Forever Red II
by MrQuinn
Summary: Former red rangers from every generation are forced out of retirement and unite to face the Ulitimate Evil! Rated T for violence and graphic fight scenes. MMPR,PRZ,PRT,PRIS,LG,LR,TF,WF,NS,DT,SPD,MF teamup! V 2.0!
1. The First

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_advanced, extended, additional chapters & alternate endings of this story can be found on **rangerfiction . net**_

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_

_**Disclaimer:** Power Rangers and all its related logos are property of Disney Entertainment and/or Saban Entertainment. I am using them without permission, but I do not expect to make a profit. If I do, I promise to split it 50/50 with the Disney people. I swear, I do. All original characters are mine, and I do have permission to use them. _

_**A/N:** This takes place a few years after Dino Thunder, and is loosely based in the "Future Imperfect" universe. Don't worry; you shouldn't have to read that one to understand this one._

_Take a sec to review too, I live for those._

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**KO-35 2008 AD - The Utopian Mountains**

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Both of the suns were going down, setting gently behind the mountains of Utopian City. There was a cool breeze in the air, and the stars were shining a little brighter than normal. It was, as always, peaceful on KO-35. However, deep within the mountains themselves, unbeknownst to the citizens of KO-35, the forces of evil were gathering, preparing.

There were Quantons, Kelzacks, Ghouls, Batlings, and a variety of other foot soldiers gathered around a symbol in the ground. The symbol itself was a bronze colored pentagram with a circle surrounding it. Within each of the triangle shapes in the pentagrams, there were smaller, individual symbols. Along the circle itself was an ancient writing, and smoke seemed to be coming from it. The seeming endless sea of foot soldiers parted, allowing a hooded figure to walk through, approaching the pentagram. The mysterious figure stopped at the pentagram, bowing to one knee.

"My glorious leader, your time is at hand. Our plans are in place, and soon, your reign of terror will spread through this galaxy and every other. All will tremble in fear; all will kneel before your immeasurable and inexhaustible power. Every pure soul, every ounce of goodness in the universe will be purged, and evil, the first evil, will dominate the universe," he proclaimed.

The foot soldiers all cheered with approval, each in their own language as the hooded figure stood up, pulling a small dagger out of its sleeve. It then turned slightly, motioning for something. "Bring me the sacrifice," he ordered.

A quantron stepped forward, bringing with it an elderly man. The man struggled, but it was on use. The quantron held the man in place as the hooded figured approached him slowly. "Fear not my friend, your sacrifice is a noble one. You are the key, the catalyst from the destruction of your world and countless others. The blood of the innocent will open the seal of Daphron, and when the power source arrives, our leader will be freed from its tomb," he told him.

"God please, no…" the man old sighed.

"Your god has nothing to do with this," he said as he began to carve symbols into the man's chest. The man cried out in pain, struggling to get free, but there was no use. The harder he tried, the deeper the hooded figure cut. Soon, the elderly man passed out from the lose of blood, and the cloaked figure tossed him onto the symbol in the ground.

The blood began to pour out the man, spilling into every crevice of the symbol. Soon, the entire symbol was covered in blood, and it began to glow. Small compartments began to open on the symbol as smoke filled the cave. The symbol continued to shift, until eventually, the entire symbol was gone, and there was an opening in the floor. The opening seemed to be filled with blood, and soon, the smoke cleared. The hooded figured stared down, unsure of what to expect. He'd performed the ritual, done the sacrifice, but nothing was coming from the opening.

"You almost seem disappointed my friend," a deep, eerie voice said.

The cloaked figured turned around quickly with the dagger in hand. "Who dares…" he paused, realizing who it was. "My lord, forgive me," he sighed, dropping to one knee.

"No need for that my friend, rise!" the entity said. It was still very dark and almost impossible to see anything, so he wasn't able to get a good look at it. The figure in the cloak nodded slightly.

"My lord, you have returned."

"Yes, but you're wrong about one thing. All the goodness in the universe will not be purged; it will be allowed to survive. Those who choose to serve by my side will know power and wealth beyond their wildest imagination, those who do not will be made to suffer for an eternity, trapped in a living hell. You see my loyal friend, it isn't good or bad, these are old-fashioned terms with no real merit to them. It isn't about to who's right or wrong, who serves good and who serves evil, it's about power. Who has the most of it? Who is willing to use it? _I _not only have the power, I _am_ the power, and I will use it to crush all those who oppose me."

"My lord, the plans are in place. Soon, the power source strong enough to make you corporal will be here, and our reign of destruction will begin," the hooded figure told him.

"Do not under estimate our adversaries, they will no doubtedly try to stop us, but you mustn't let that happen. I have waited for countless millennia for my opportunity, trapped in a meaningless void. My time has arrived, and you must ensure that all goes according to plan."

"I assure you my lord, when this is over, you will be corporal again, and every being in the universe will bend to your will."

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**Tommy and Leo - Reefside, California 2008 AD****

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It was an impressive collection, to say the very least. Over the years, as new generations of rangers were selected; Tommy managed to hold on to each of his morphers. They were such an influential part of his life, so significant, that it seemed almost necessary to keep them all. Each of his morphers was laid out on the table in front of him, each of them damaged in some way, shape or form.

His green power coin was simply a coin now, no real power whatsoever. _'Not like it was very reliable even back then,'_ he chuckled to himself. The green ranger energy, created by evil, was temporary at best. His powers always seemed to give out on him at just the wrong time, leaving him or the other rangers in trouble. It was his first time being exposed to the power, beginning what would become his legacy as a ranger. As the green ranger, he'd done things he wasn't proud of, things that, if he had the chance, he'd go back and change, but those times were also the stepping-stones for what would become his destiny.

The white power coin looked exactly like the green one, with the exception of different engravings. For him, the white coin represented second chances, an opportunity to correct some of the mistakes he'd made as the green ranger. He assumed control of the ranger team, and together, they were able to defeat Lord Zedd and Rita Repula every time they attacked. Though members of the group changed over the years, their mission remained the same, and under his leadership, there was nothing they couldn't do. Then, tragedy struck. Lord Zedd was successful in destroying the Command Center, taking their powers with it.

With their powers gone, the rangers turned to the Zeo crystal for a new energy source. While Tommy no longer had the actual crystal, he did have his zeo morphers. His time as the red Zeo ranger was more of a coming of age time for him. All of them were getting older, wiser. Zedd and Rita were gone, and the Machine Empire was slowly but surely taking over the galaxy. This time around, it wasn't just the city that depended on him, it was the entire world. While they never truly defeated the Machine Empire, they were successful in driving them back into space, leaving the Earth safe.

With the Machine Empire gone, he was sure that things would finally go back to normal. _'Whatever normal was,'_ he sighed. He'd been a ranger most of his life at that point, and he was preparing to move on with his life… until Divatox showed up. It became necessary for him to resume his role as a ranger, this time with the red turbo morpher. His time as the red ranger was cut short this time around, and Dimitri, who'd assumed control of the Command Chamber in Zordon's absence, instructed each ranger to find a replacement. Tommy chose TJ, the man who'd saved his life, and finally, Tommy's life as a power ranger had come to an end.

He moved on with his life, went to college, got a degree, even got a good job at Mercer Industries. Things were finally looking up for him; he'd almost forgotten about the times he spent as a ranger. Years had gone by, and then, he received a call from Andros, the red space ranger, informing him that generals from the long forgotten Machine Empire were planning to invade Earth. With a reluctant heart, Tommy resorted to his Zeo morpher, becoming the red ranger one more time. Alongside nine other red rangers, they were able to defeat the generals, and the Earth was safe.

It didn't take long for Tommy to realize that he couldn't escape the power for too long.

Time went on, and Tommy took a job as a schoolteacher. While it wasn't as rewarding as saving the world on a daily basis, it was safe, and for the most part, he was happy. He'd finally settled down, married the love of his life, Katherine Hilliard, and was preparing to start a family. The two of them had discussed it several times, and he finally felt as though he was ready. Of course, his destiny caught up with him again, and he had been forced to put his life on hold to become a ranger yet again. This time, as the black ranger, he and a new ranger team were able to defeat Mesagog and prevent him from recreating the dinosaur era on Earth. His black dino gem lost all its power in the final battle, and it was at that point that he vowed never to go back.

'_I've done my part for the world, it's over for me now,'_ he thought to himself, picking up each morpher and placing them in a box on the table. It had been a few years since he was the black ranger. He was a family man now, he had a daughter, and he was ready to move forward with his life. He and Katherine had even discussed having another child in the near future. It was finally over; he would finally have his life back.

Every now and then on the news, he'd hear something about the rangers saving the city, or how they stopped a monster attack. He'd heard something about Bio-Lab and the Silver Guardians merging with another company, SPD, and now they were going to train future rangers to protect the world. He was sure that he'd never be called on again to save the world.

"What are you doing down here?" Katherine asked as she walked into the room, wrapping her arms around him gently and kissing him on the cheek.

"Just packing up some old stuff, moving it down to the basement," he said, quickly sealing the lid of the box.

Katherine had been firmly against him going on a mission with the other red rangers, and protested. Eventually she understood, but when he had tried to explain that he had to be a ranger again, this time the black one, it was the last straw. _'You have to pick. Them or me!'_ he recalled her saying. Though he was happy with his life, happy with how things were going, he knew he had to live up to his responsibility. The safety of the world outweighed his own happiness, and as a result, she had left him. Once Mesagog was defeated, and it was finally over, he vowed to her never to be a ranger again, never to wear another uniform, or put his life on the line. She took him back, and things had been fine for them ever since.

"It's getting late, are you coming to bed?"

"I will in a minute. Is Kim already in bed?" he asked her.

Their daughter had recently celebrated her third birthday, and on that day, demanded a "big girl bed". Since then, she couldn't wait to go to bed, and looked for any opportunity to lie in it.

"You know she is. She's been lying there for almost an hour now, waiting on you to tuck her in. She's such a daddy's little girl," she told him.

"So are you," he giggled, kissing her on the lips softly.

She playfully pushed him away. "Go check on your daughter. I'll be in the bed waiting for you," she said, then turned and headed up the steps.

Tommy couldn't help but smile as he watched her walk up the steps. His life was finally perfect. He had a wonderful wife, a beautiful daughter, a happy home, a good job, and everything was falling into place for him. His thoughts were broken as the phone rang. He walked over to the phone on the kitchen wall, picking it up.

"Hello?"

"_Thank God you're there. Tommy, we need your help,"_ a voice said.

Though the voice sounded panicked, he recognized it right away. "Rocky, what is it, man? What's wrong?"

"_It's Emily, something happened. Someone… took her."_

"Took her? Where?"

"_I don't know; there was an attack, a big one. She's gone, man, she's gone!"_

"Did you call the police?"

"_They're not going to be able to help me, Tommy, I need your help."_

"My help? What can I do?"

"_They left a message. It says that if I ever want to see Emily again, I have to go to K0-35 and get her. Tommy, if we don't go, they're going to kill her!"_

"I can get in touch with Andros for you, he'll be able to…"

"_That's fine, but I need you to come with me. Jason's going too, they kidnapped Emily. We have to ranger up and…"_

"No, I can't. I won't. I promised Kat I wouldn't…"

"_I know you did, but if we don't do something, it could cost Aisha and Emily their lives."_

"Rocky, I…"

He was interrupted as he heard a crash come from upstairs, followed by screaming. On instinct alone, Tommy dropped the phone and rushed up the chairs, heading immediately to his daughter's room. As soon as he rushed in, he saw Katherine unconscious on the floor, and several robots in the room. He'd never seen robots quite like these; they resembled puddies, but they were much more advanced, and it seemed as though they were wearing armor of some kind. One of the robots had his daughter, and was heading for the window.

Tommy lunged at him with a kick, knocking Kimmy out of his arms. She fell to the floor, and Tommy swung around with an elbow into the ribs of the robot, flipping it over his shoulder. Two more came towards him, but Tommy grabbed a pillow off Kimmy's bed, ripping it and allowing features to fly all over the room. The confusion was enough to let Tommy give one of them a sweep, knocking it over, then he did a back flip, kicking the other robot and sending it stumbling backwards, falling out the window. He stood ready as Kimmy crawled behind him, trembling in fear.

In the distance, he heard another crash, and within moments, even more robots were making their way into the room. Realizing he was outnumbered, he picked up Kimmy and was ready to make a run for it, but two of the robots grabbed him, literally snatching Kimmy out of his arms. He broke free and went after them, but four more robots overwhelmed him. Soon, he was pinned down to the floor as Kimmy screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Daddy! Help me, Daddy!"

"I'm coming, Kimmy," he called out, still struggling to get free, but it was no use.

Just then, there was yet another crash downstairs, but this was one different. It sounded like more of a struggle, and seconds later, the red Lost Galaxy ranger charged into the room. A well-placed kick sent one of the robots out of the room, flipping over the banister and down to the floor below. With the galaxy saber in hand, he single handedly disposed of the robots. The robots that were holding Tommy down went after him, but they were no match for him. A roundhouse kick took care of one. Another rushed at him with a blade of some kind, but the red ranger sidestepped it, and the robot sliced the other in half. With one robot left, the red ranger swung, slicing its head off with one shot, sending it collapsing to the floor.

With them done, the red ranger immediately turned to Katherine, who was still lifeless on the floor. "Kat, can you hear me? Are you okay?" he quickly checked her vitals. "Looks like she just passed out, she should be fine."

Tommy got back to his feet. "Oh my God, Kimmy?" he ran to the hallway. "Kimmy? KIMMY?"

But she was nowhere to be found.

"I got here as soon as I could. I'm sorry about your daughter," he said.

Tommy leaned back into a corner, falling back with tears in his eyes. "Kimmy?" he cried.

"POWER DOWN!" there was a flash of light, and the ranger uniform disappeared. "Listen to me, Tommy, we will find your daughter. This isn't just happening to you, it's all over the galaxy. Someone kidnapped Karone and Kendricks, too. Last I heard, former rangers all over the universe are getting kidnapped. If we're going to get them all back, I'm going to need your help."

"I-I can't Leo. I'm not a ranger anymore."

"You'll always be a ranger and you know it. If any of them have a chance of surviving, if your daughter has a chance of surviving, we have to try. Come with me," he told him.

Tommy stood up slowly, wiping the tears away from his eyes. Though he'd promised Kat he would never do it again, he would never go back; he knew this was something he had to do. If it meant she was going to divorce him, he was prepared to live with it if it meant being able to save his daughter. "There's something I have to get first," he said, walking out of the room with a look of determination in his eyes.

Tommy headed downstairs and back into the kitchen, ripping the box wide open and grabbing his Zeo morphers. He put one on each wrist, and as he turned around, Leo was standing in the doorway, nodding.

"You ready?"

"Let's go!" Tommy said coldly.

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_** next time on Forever Red II:** Alex and the new Quantum Ranger are called into action, and Jack is asked to come out of retirement._  



	2. Desperate Times

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_advanced, extended, additional chapters & alternate endings of this story can be found on **rangerfiction . net**_

_

* * *

_

_**Disclaimer:** Power Rangers and all its related logos are property of Disney Entertainment and/or Saban Entertainment. I am using them without permission, but I do not expect to make a profit. If I do, I promise to split it 50/50 with the Disney people. I swear, I do. All original characters are mine, and I do have permission to use them. _

_**A/N**: This takes place a few years after Dino Thunder, and is loosely based in the "Future Imperfect" universe. Don't worry; you shouldn't have to read that one to understand this one. Kyle, the new Quantum Ranger, does appear in "Future Imperfect" as well.  
_

_Take a sec to review too, I live for those._

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**Alex and Kyle - New Silver Hills, California 3001 AD****

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His relationship with Jen was like something out of a fairy tale. They met, and almost instantly both of them knew they were meant to be together. They knew that working together and attempting to have a relationship would make things difficult; even Captain Logan warned them of the unnecessary complications of attempting to date a co-worker, but they both felt it was worth the struggle.

When Alex was chosen to be the red ranger and track down Ransik, he became obsessed with his work. Ransik single-handedly killed his parents, and he wanted revenge for their senseless deaths. Soon, Jen was no longer his top priority; stopping Ransik was the only thing that concerned him. There were times when he was gone for days at a time, tracking him, hunting him down. Jen laid in bed a nervous wreck, hoping everything was okay. He promised her that once he captured Ransik, once he was behind bars for good, he'd step down as red ranger, get a desk job and be with her. She understood his frustrations, and waited for him.

He finally tracked Ransik down to an abandoned warehouse, and after an all-out war, was able to capture him. Ransik would stand trail for his crimes, and more than likely be sentenced to containment for the rest of his life. Things were finally looking up for them. At the trial, he proposed, and she eagerly accepted. Ransik was sentenced, and Jen's team was given the task of taking him to containment.

But the unthinkable happened…

Ransik escaped, and was able to get his hands on a time travel device. His plan was to go to the past to a point when there was no Time Force, and rule the world. Alex, hoping to be done with his duties as red ranger, assumed control of it one more time, and went after Ransik. They fought, but this time, Alex wasn't so lucky. With his last breath, he gave his morpher to Jen and told her to stop Ransik at all costs. Jen, with tears in her eyes, promised him she would, and just like that, he was gone.

Alex awoke in a hospital, unsure of where he was or how he'd gotten there. Captain Logan explained to him that Alex had officially died in his last battle against Ransik, and that Ransik traveled to the past to take over the city. Jen and a group of rangers had gone back to stop him, and as a result, the time line was beginning to shift. Reality was changing, and if it didn't stop soon, Time Force as they knew it would be gone. One of the side effects in the time line shifting was Alex being resurrected, and he vowed to go back and put a stop to the changes in the time line. It was his second chance to set things right, to capture Ransik, to be with Jen.

He went to the past to help, only to discover that the time line wasn't the only thing that had changed. Jen's feelings for him were gone, and replaced with feelings for someone else, Wesley Collins. It hurt him more than he could ever tell her, but the mission was the top priority. He focused on his goal, which was to preserve the time line, and though it cost his relationship with Jen, time was as it should have been.

When Jen finally returned to the present, things between them were different. For months, they avoided one another. He took a deep cover assignment, and Jen took a mission to track a group of renegade mutants. When they both returned, they had a chance to talk. Each of them expressed their concerns, got everything out in the open, and they were finally on their way to becoming friends again. It didn't take them long to rekindle the flame, and the two of them were together again within a year. He still had the ring, the same ring she'd given back to him years ago, and he was finally ready to propose to her again.

He'd scheduled a meeting with Captain Logan, and was prepared to hand over the red Chrono morpher, step down and take a desk job to be with Jen. It would be just like he promised her it would be, but before he could call the captain, Logan called _him_. From the tone in his voice, he knew it had to be something important. It was with a reluctant sigh that he headed into the main control room, where the Captain was waiting for him. Along with the Captain was Kyle Riley, Alex's long time friend. The two of them had gone through the academy together, and Kyle was one of the very few people in his life who he trusted unconditionally.

"Sir!" Alex said, standing at attention.

"At ease, Commander." Alex put his arms behind his back. "I called you here because there is a serious problem in the space/time continuum." He motioned for both Alex and Kyle to follow him. They all stopped in front of one of the computer stations. "There is an unusual power build up in the past. There is a huge amount of energy, all of it converging at one point in the Terrell Ian sector."

"At what point in time?" Kyle asked.

"We can't get a precise time or date, but it's the early 21st century. I've checked the astrometrics readouts, and all this energy is converging in the exact spot where _he_ was contained," he said.

"He?"

The Captain sighed. "He is called many things in many different cultures and religions, but we all agree that it was the first evil, the original evil in the universe. He is, quite simply, the evil that evil fears. For countless generations, he had been contained in the Terrell Ian sector, trapped in a sort of void, a space between worlds. It was created by the combined forces of every being in the universe, and designed so that it could be opened only by a source of unspeakable power. It was believed that no known power in the universe would ever be able to open it, but from the looks of these readings, someone is about to try."

"Come on boss, there have been plenty of guys who claimed to be the big bad of the universe, I'm sure this guy is no different," Kyle said.

"Make no mistake about it, Commander Riley, this being is the very first evil in the universe, the be all and end all of evil. Legend tells of this being, and there are documents going as far back as the beginning of time itself," he said. "The last report of it being on Earth was the early 21st century in California, but it was contained."

"Are you trying to say this thing is…"

"The original evil, the only evil. We've had beings that claimed to be evil, some said they were the king or queen of evil, this thing is _actual_ evil, the embodiment of every negative and impure thought in the universe," he told him.

"So what do you want us to do?"

"According to reports, there has been a time jump, originating from the year 2025. Whoever it is, I suspect they're on their way to Terrell Ian sector as well. I need the two of you to investigate this and report back. If something isn't done, this could shift the balance of power in the universe, and in one stroke eliminate Time Force once and for all."

"Wait? The two of us?"

He nodded. "Yes. Alex, the new Chrono morpher has been working fine for you, so I want you to lead the mission. I would have you take the other rangers, but if something does happen, they will be needed here. Kyle has been the Quantum ranger for years now, so he is the ideal choice for this mission," he said. "Besides, the two of you recently went on a mission to the 21st century, so I thought you two would be eager to work together again."

"I am, sir, it's not Kyle. It's just that I…"

"I know, you were ready to put all this behind you, Alex, but if this thing isn't stopped before it's too late, life as you know it will be over. Countless billions will cease to exist in the blink of an eye. Do this for us, Alex, and you'll be done. You can retire from Time Force as one of the most decorated and honored officers of all time," Captain Logan told him.

"Sir, I…"

"Oh come on, Al, let's go stop the big evil guy and get it over with. People are counting on us, we have to do this," Kyle said.

Alex sighed. "I'm sorry, sir, but with all due respect, I'm going to have to decline. I've done everything Time Force asked of me and more, but this time, I can't accept this mission. Jen and I are…"

"I was afraid you'd feel that way, and I didn't want this to be your motivation for going, but…" He paused, handing Alex a vanilla folder. Alex quickly opened it, reading over the files. "I sent Jen on a mission to investigate this incursion, but she failed to check in almost twelve hours ago. As far as we can tell, her morpher is offline, and we fear the worst," Captain Logan told him.

"Oh God, Jen," he sighed.

Kyle walked over to Alex, putting his hand on his shoulder. "We'll find her and bring her back, I promise."

"When do we leave?" Alex asked with a look of determination on his face.

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**Jack and Charlie - New Tech City, California 2025 AD****

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It was still a little disconcerting for him. Every now and then, he'd turn on the news and hear something about the Space Partol Delta rangers were successful in capturing another criminal, or how they prevented some kind of disaster. He was proud of them all, and knew that SPD wouldn't shut down the moment he left, but it was still strange for him to see the red ranger in battle. After all, he'd spent a year of his life as the red ranger, the leader of the group, going into battle after battle and always coming out on top.

His time in SPD was, to say the least, informative. He discovered that his parents were part of the original SPD, and that thanks to their research on the morphers, they're DNA had been altered on a cellular level. That gave him an explanation as to why he had the ability to pass through solid objects, and it explained why his parents were always so secretive about what they did. Though he missed his time as a ranger; just being with the group, going into battle with him, he was glad that part of his life was over. From time to time, Z and the others came to visit him, and they'd head over to Piggy's restaurant just to harass him. He'd even gotten a visit from Commander Cruger a few times, but the conversation was always felt a little awkward. Still, it was nice that the others stopped by to see him every now and then.

His life was Ally had been nothing had been everything he could have hoped for and more. Because her family owned a business, it was easy for him to donate clothes to the needy. He often wondered how many times he'd stolen clothes from her father's shop and passed them out the homeless. Even beyond that, it was nice for him to finally be doing something that didn't involve helping other people. So dedicated to ensuring that everyone else got what they needed, he often neglected to pursue the things he wanted. Ally gave him the chance to do that, and while he missed being with the others, he couldn't imagine a happier time in his life that at that moment.

Though he'd only been with Ally a short time, he found himself considering asking her to marry him. They made each other happy, and it was a feeling he wanted to hold onto the rest of his life.

His thoughts were interrupted as Ally walked into the room, flopping down on his lap and wrapping her arms around him. "Watching the news again I see," she said, leaning in and kissing him on the cheek.

He grabbed the control, putting the television on mute. "Not really," he lied.

"You're good at so many things, but lying isn't one of them."

"Sorry, it's just…"

"I get it, you were with the rangers for a year, its hard to let that part of your life go, but…"

He cut her short. "There's no where else I'd rather be, I promise you."

"You can be so sweet sometimes," she sighed.

"I try my best."

"I was thinking we could go fly fishing later on. I have to stop by the store and do inventory, but after that, I'm free for the rest of the day. After that, he could grab something to eat, maybe rent a video disc," Ally suggested.

"Sounds good, maybe we could even…" he paused as something on television caught his attention. He quickly grabbed the control, turning the television up.

_"… Seriously injured in the battle. A full investigation has been put into motion to discover who was behind the attacks, but officials are trying to keep the incident under wraps. There has been no word as to who could have sent the robots, or what they were looking for. Preliminary reports indicate that there were no causalities in the attack, but several SPD officers were injured, and one has been declared missing. We will keep you up to date as…"_

He turned the TV off, standing up with a look of concern on his face. "I have to know what happened," he said.

She sighed with disappointment. "Jack, you're not thinking about going…"

"I have to. Ally, my friends are there. I need to know if they're okay," he told her.

"I understand that, but if they're not, then what? This isn't your fight anymore Jack, you have to learn to let this…" she was interrupted as a robot crashed through the window of the house.

Jack quickly stood in front of Ally, standing in-between her and the robot. It wasn't like any robot he'd ever seen before. He'd normally dealt with orange heads and blue heads, maybe a crybot every now and then, but this was altogether different. It was predominately black, but was wearing silver armor of some kind, and had a blade in its hand. It seemed as though it was speaking, but it sounded more like squeaking and squealing.

"I don't know who you are or what you want, but…"

He was cut short as the robot attacked him. It swung the blade at him, but Jack pushed Ally aside, then sidestepped the blade himself. He went for a sweep, but he didn't have enough force to knock the robot over. It cocked back with its blade, trying to stab Jack with it, but he caught the blade between his hands, stopping it inches away from his chest. The robot began to apply more pressure, pushing down even more, but Jack refused to let go. In the distance, he head another crash, and within moments, there were four more robots in the house. Two of them grabbed Ally, and she screamed to Jack for help.

Jack mustered up all the strength he had, finally pushing the robot away from him. He landed a kick, knocking the blade out the robots hands, caught it and stabbed it in the chest. Sparks shot out of its chest before it collapsed to the floor.

"Ally, duck!" he screamed.

Follow instructions, Ally ducked as Jack swung the blade, slicing off one of the robot's heads. As it fell to the floor, Ally struggled free from the grip of the other, running behind Jack. Now, Jack had a blade in each hand with a look of contempt in his eyes. He was ready to make his move, but before he could, at least a dozen more robots charged into the house, surrounding them.

"Jack, what's going on?" Ally cried.

At that moment, there was another crash, but this time, it was…

"Shadow Ranger!" Jack said.

Shadow nodded at him, and then went to work on the robots. Sword in hand, he swung, taking down three of the robots almost instantly. Jack followed suit, using the blade to go after the others. One of the robots grabbed Jack from behind, but he dropped to his knees and flipped the robot over, then sliced it in half. Within moments, there was a pile of robots at their feet as Jack and Shadow Ranger glanced around.

"Commander, what in the world is…" he paused. "Ally? ALLY?" he screamed, looking around.

"I fear they've taken her Jack, but we can get her back. You have to come with me now," Shadow Ranger said.

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on here!"

"Something is coming, something evil. The rangers were attacked to prevent them from being able to stop it, SPD is almost all but crippled because of it, and you may be the only hope we have to stopping it," he said.

"What is it? What's coming? And where have they taken Ally?"

"I will answer all your questions, but time is of the essence. You have to come with me now," he said.

Reluctantly, Jack nodded.

* * *

The doors to the command center opened as Jack and Commander Cruger walked in. It was strange for Jack, being back there. It had only been a few months since he left, but while it all felt familiar to him, there were things that still felt out of place. 

"Jack, its good to see you again," Kat said, walking over to him. "I just wish it was under better circumstances."

"Nice to see you again, too."

Commander Cruger walked over to the control panel, pulling up some information. "A little over twenty years ago, there was a being on Earth known only as The First. It attempted to take over a small city in California, and was almost successful, but thanks to the efforts of a young woman and a group of friends, it was contained. The only other information we have on The First is only speculation, but it is believed that this being in trapped between worlds, unable to take corporal form until it is fully released. There are only a few access points where this being can be released, two are on Earth but one of them has been completely sealed. The other is in Ohio, and I have dispatched the rangers there in the event something were to happen," he explained.

"So if the access points are protected, why am I here?"

"It is our belief that this being isn't attempting to use any access point on Earth. There is a set of coordinates in the Terrell Ian sector; it's rumored to have a gateway that leads from this world to others. We believe this being is going to make its escape from there," he said.

"What's the big deal Commander? We've defeated Grumm, what else could there…"

"Rest assured Jack, the being in question is the definitive evil, the dominant evil in this universe and any other. Its very essence is evil; we believe it to be the First evil in the universe. We believe that Grumm, Onmi, and every other being we've ever faced are in some way connected to this being, merely servants to the ultimate evil," he told him.

"How was it contained last time? Was it rangers?"

"The records are unclear, but clearly technology is not the answer. This being was contained by alternate means," he paused, turning to Jack. "Jack, you should know that Cadet Drew was sent on a surveillance mission to the Terrell Ian sector, but she has failed to report back. Sky was seriously injured in the attack earlier, and the remaining rangers have been dispatched to the final access point. I need you to go to the Terrell Ian sector, find Syd and do whatever you can to stop this being from being released," he said.

"But there's a catch," Kat chimed in, walking over to them. "These sets of coordinates in the Terrell Ian sector, at this point in time, are dormant. Commander Cruger wants to send you to the past."

"The past?"

"The year 2008 to be precise. There is huge power build up in that sector in that point in time. We're sure that whatever is going to happen, it's going to be in the past. The consequences of a being with that much power being released will effect not only that time, but ours and the rest of future history. Whatever it is, it has to be stopped," she said.

"With all due respect Commander, what do you expect me to do?"

The Commander reached in his pocket, pulling out a morpher and handed it to him. "You'll be needing this," he said.

Jack shook his head. "No, I retired, remember? I don't do this anymore," he said, heading for the exit.

"Whoever is behind this kidnapped Ally, and are using her as bail to lure you out. If you don't go, there is no telling what might happen to her," the Commander told him.

The statement was enough to stop Jack dead in his tracks.

"Even if I do this, I'd be alone. What will I be able to do by myself?" he asked, never turning around.

"You wouldn't be going alone. I want you to take Officer Cambridge with you," he said.

"Officer Cam…" he turned around. "Charlie? The A-Squad leader, but she's…"

"Probably your best bet to understanding The First. The shuttle that you originally found the A-Squad in months ago came from the Terrell Ian sector. We believe that Charlie and the others were influenced by The First or by agents of The First. If that's the case, she may be able to give you insight on how to defeat it," he said.

"What makes you think she'll be willing to help?"

"Because it sure beats being trapped in a damn containment card for twenty five years," Charlie said as the doors slid open and she walked into the room.

"You released her?"

"Officer Cambridge has agreed to help us. If you are successful in your mission, she will have her memories erased and allowed to live out the rest of her life as a civilian. If she shows any signs of betrayal, you are authorized to contain her again," the Commander told him.

"Don't worry, I'm a team player. Besides, it'll be cool to team up with the guy who brought me down. You're a good fighter Jack, now lets see what you do when you go up against real evil," she said.

"I'm not sure about this Commander," Jack sighed, voicing his concerns.

"Your reluctance is understandable, but we're running out of time. This needs to be taken care of immediately. If not, everything we've done, all that we've fought for will be erased from history. Evil will rule this world and every other, and there will be no one to stop it," he said.

"Sounds like a job for super red ranger," Charlie laughed.

"This is no laughing matter Officer Cambridge," Kat said.

"Geez, you guys never had a sense of humor, did you? Lighten up."

"Dr. Manx has managed to open a stable wormhole to the year 2008, but we won't be able to transport you all the way to the Terrell Ian sector. You'll have to find your own way there," she said.

"No problem, I'm sure the past has flights to the Terrell Ian sector leaving every thirty minutes. That shouldn't be a problem," Charlie mocked.

"We can transport you to the NASADA space port. You should be able to find suitable transportation there," the Commander said.

Jack looked at Charlie, who had a girlish grin on her face, then over at the Commander, who looked more concerned than anything else. Finally, he sighed, realizing what had to be done. "I'll do it," he sighed.

"Excellent. Kat, prepare the wormhole," he said.

Jack turned to Charlie. "If you turn on me, I'll…"

"Relax Jackie boy, I might be one of the bad guys, but I don't want the world destroyed. I kinda like it the way it is," she said.

"I have the coordinates locked in, we're ready here," Kat announced.

"When you get there, we will have no way of contacting you. Cadet Drew was given specific instructions on how to return home. You'll need to find her, and the three of you can return together once the mission is complete," he said.

Within moments, a wormhole opened.

"Good luck rangers," Commander Cruger said.

"Well, you ready to go save the world Jackie boy?" Charlie asked, not even giving him a chance to respond as she jumped through the wormhole, disappearing.

"I'll do my best Commander," Jack said.

"I'm sure you will."

Jack nodded, stepping through the wormhole and disappearing.

"Do you think they can do it Commander? After all, its only the two of them," Kat brought up.

"If I know my history, they won't be alone. They'll have help," he sighed.

* * *

_ **next time on Forever Red II:** Emily is kidnapped, forcing Jason out of retirement to find her. Meanwhile, Wes is ready to step down as red ranger.

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	3. Back to Action

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_advanced, extended, additional chapters & alternate endings of this story can be found on **rangerfiction . net

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**__**  
**_

_**Disclaimer:** Power Rangers and all its related logos are property of Disney Entertainment and/or Saban Entertainment. I am using them without permission, but I do not expect to make a profit. If I do, I promise to split it 50/50 with the Disney people. I swear, I do. All original characters are mine, and I do have permission to use them._

_**A/N**: This chapter is **heavily** based on "Future Imperfect". While there is a summary of what happened, you may want to check the fic itself for reference.  
_

_Take a sec to review too, I live those._

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**Rocky and Jason - Angel Grove, California 2008 AD

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**

Jason and Rocky stood across from one another, each with a monotone expression on their faces, neither of them flinching. It was another hot night in Angel Grove, but they weren't letting the heat get to them. Both of them were covered in sweat, and were probably more exhausted than they were willing to let on, but judging by the looks on their faces, both of them were more than ready.

"Are either of them going to do anything?" Emily asked as she walked into the backyard, sitting down at the table across from Aisha.

Aisha leaned back in her chair, putting her arms behind her head. "They won't admit it, but they're resting," she paused. 'They've been going at it for almost an hour now, but this gives them time to rest," she pointed out.

Her statement was enough to break Rocky's concentration. "Hey, I'm not…"

He was cut short as Jason charged in with a sabat kick, taking him down. Rocky tried for a sweep, but Jason did a back flip, avoiding it. Rocky made it back to his feet, rushing in with a series of punches and chops, but Jason was able to counter each one. Rocky did a back flip, landing on the table the girls were sitting at. Jason grabbed Rocky's ankles; trying to trip him, but Rocky did another flip, kicking Jason across the chin as he flipped, this time landing on the opposite end of the table. Emily and Aisha did their best to move out the way, but as Rocky rushed around to make another run at Jason, Jason caught him with a roundhouse. It was enough to knock him backwards and to the ground. Jason swung downwards to finish him off, but Rocky caught his fist, got his footing and flipped Jason over. Now, both of them were on the ground, but neither was moving.

"You've gotten better," Jason admitting, breathing heavily. "But you still get distracted too easily."

"You're not so bad yourself, for an old guy."

"Old? I'm only…"

"Admit it Jase, you're not as young as you use to be," Emily chimed in.

Though he would never admit it out loud, Jason knew she was right. It had been years since he was an active ranger, and while he did his best to stay in shape, it was nothing like fighting the puddies on a daily basis. Even after helping Andros and the others on the moon a few years back, he was sore for days. It bothered him that he couldn't fight on the level that he use to, not that he had to at this point. His life was different, things had changed. He was a married man now; happily married for years. He and Rocky had been working at the Red Dragon dojo together, working with children in the area and teaching them martial arts, but it didn't compare to his battles with the Machine Empire, or even against Rita.

Though he missed that part of his life, he was glad it was over. No more putting his life on the line, no more trying to keep his secret from Emily. It was the reason the two of them couldn't be together while he was red ranger, and after he went to the peace conference, he was sure he'd lost her forever. Once the conference was over and he returned to Angel Grove, he was glad to see there was no one serious in her life, but again, being the gold ranger got in the way of the two of them being together. Once it was over, and he knew that his life as a ranger was behind him, he was able to tell her the truth.

After he told her, things between them couldn't have been better. He was sure that, in a way, she always knew. All the times he had to go rushing off without an explanation, all the times he backed out of dates at the last minute, it should have been obvious. _'The way I wore the same colors all the time, I'm surprised no one ever figured it out,'_ he chuckled inwardly.

He had to admit it though, time was slowly catching up with him. In his prime, he was arguably one of the greatest rangers of all times, but on the same hand, that was over fifteen years ago. Part of him envied Tommy for continuing the ranger legacy. He was a year younger than Tommy, so it bothered him to see that Tommy was still on top of his game, but in retrospect, he wouldn't trade the life he had for anything in the world.

"I may be old, but I can still kick Rocky's ass," he joked.

"Hey!" Rocky protested as the two of them finally got up, dusting themselves off.

They sat across from one another at the table, pouring a glass of lemonade Aisha brought out earlier. Glancing down at his watch, Rocky was amazed that the two of them had gone at it for so long. But, in their case, it wasn't a record. The two of them had squared off for hours at a time, silently competing with one another. His entire ranger career, he lived in the shadow of the great Jason Lee Scott. First, when he replaced him as red ranger, there were certain expectations that went with the morpher. Jason had been the leader of the group, responsible for leading them into battle countless times. When Jason passed his morpher to him, he knew they were big shoes to fill, but he did his best. When they switched to the Zeo powers, though he wasn't technically a demotion, he felt as though it was. Going from red to blue bothered him, but knew that Tommy was better suited to lead the team as red ranger. Finally, they had new powers, and he was out of the shadow of Jason once and for all.

Then Jason returned as the gold ranger.

Suddenly, Rocky wasn't even second in command of the group, or third. He was once again looking for ways to outdo Jason, trying to shake the feeling that he was simply a replacement. Though they settled it between the two of them, and he no longer felt as though he was in the shadow of Jason, part of him still felt the need to compete with Jason once in a while. When Jason went off on his last mission to the moon to help the other red ranger, he could have easily gone and proven himself to the others, but as he got older, Rocky began to understand what was more important. He put his ego aside, allowing Jason, who had more experience in martial arts than he did, to take the active red morpher and assist the others. He wish he'd gone; if for nothing else, to interact with the other rangers. After he "retired", he did his best to keep in touch with the others. But, as time went on, most of them grew apart.

Once Jason got married, he moved back to Angel Grove, and the two of them went to work at the Red Dragon Dojo together. He was still quite close with Aisha, and from time to time Adam and Tanya stopped by to see them. Once a year, like clockwork, all of them got together to visit Trini's gravesite and pay their respects to their fallen friend, but other than that, he had no contact with the others.

"I'll never understand men and their need to one-up each other, you never see Aisha and I do that," Emily brought up.

"I know, that's because we both know I'm prettier," she mentioned.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Oh really?"

"Oh yeah. I mean, just look…" she was interrupted when they heard a crash coming from inside the house.

"What was that?"

Jason and Rocky were immediately on their feet. "You girls stay here, we'll check this out," Jason said.

The two of them made their way towards the door, but before they could walk inside, they were attacked by a group of robots. They hit a double roundhouse kick on one of them, but three more attacked them. Aisha was on her feet next, lunging at one of the robots with a heel kick, knocking it away from Jason. Jason was able to break free, picking up a chair and breaking it over the robot's head.

"Emily get out of here now!" he screamed.

Following instructions, Emily tried to run inside, but was caught by two more robots.

"Jase, help!" she screamed.

One of the robots swung a blade at him, but Jason sidestepped, hit an elbow from behind and managed to snatch the blade out of his hand. Before the robot could turn around to make a move, Jason sliced through the robot. With a smile on his face, Jason did a back flip, giving another robot a sweep with the blade in hand, slicing off its feet, sending it to the ground.

Aisha landed a sabat kick to one of the robots, but two more grabbed her, restraining her. Jason and Rocky tried to make their way over to the girls, but they disappeared into a stream of gold light.

"Damn it!" Jason snapped.

"What the hell is going on? What were those?"

"I don't know, but they took my wife. I intend to find out what they were, who sent them, and get Emily back," Jason said with determination in his voice.

Just then, a beam of light shot out of the chest of some of the fallen robots. A holographic image appeared to them, but whoever it was wore a hood and cloak, making it impossible to see who it was. _"Rangers, I trust that my Quantrons were no match for the mighty red rangers, but I'm sure my point was made. I have your loved ones, and if you want to see them alive again, you'll come to KO-35 to get them. You have twelve hours,"_ the image said, and then disappeared.

"Oh God, Emily," he sighed.

"We're going to need some help," he paused. "I'll call Tommy," Rocky said, running into the house.

He quickly picked up the phone, dialing the number and waited for a response.

"Hello?" 

"Thank God you're here. Tommy, we need your help."

"_Rocky, what is it man? What's wrong?"_

"Its Emily, something happened. Someone… took her."

"_Took her? Where?"_

"I don't know, there was an attack, a big one. She's gone man, she's gone!"

"_Did you call the police?"_

"They're not going to be able to help me Tommy, I need your help."

"_My help? What can I do?"_

"They left a message. It says that if I ever want to see Aisha again, I have to go to K0-35 and get her. Tommy, if we don't go, they're going to kill her!"

"I can get in touch with Andros for you, he'll be able to…" 

"That's fine, but I need you to come with me. Jason's going too, they kidnapped Emily. We have to ranger up and…"

"No, I can't. I won't. I promised Kat I wouldn't…" 

"I know you did, but if we don't do something, it could cost Aisha and Emily their lives."

"_Rocky, I…"_

In the distance, he heard a crash. "Tommy? You there? Is everything okay?" he asked, but there was no response.

Realizing that there was probably an attack at Tommy's house as well, Rocky dropped the phone and ran back into the backyard. "Someone is attacking Tommy, too. We have to go help him!" Rocky said.

"Do you still have your morpher?"

"Yeah."

"Good, we're going to need it," Jason said with a void expression on his face.

**

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**Wes and Carter**** - Marnier Bay, California 2008 AD

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Wesley Collins led a complicated life. He had been raised by his father for as long as he could remember, and his father always hoped that he would follow in his footsteps and eventually assume control of their company, Bio-Lab. Wesley had other things in mind. In all honesty, he didn't have a plan, no long-term agenda for what he wanted to do with his life, but he knew that he wanted to make his own destiny, not follow the path laid out by his father.

When he met Jen and the other rangers, his life changed forever. Suddenly, he had a purpose, his life had meaning. They were fighting to save the future, to protect not only the city, but the world. It was a lot of responsibility, but it was _his_ responsibility. He'd found his destiny, to be the red ranger. Though his father didn't approve at first, he eventually came to realize that it was what was best for Wes. After the mutants were captured and Jen returned to her own time period, Wes joined the Silver Guardians. He and Eric, his partner and long time best friend, led the group. He knew Eric was more suited for the job; after all, Eric had a military background, and was an excellent leader for the team. Things were finally getting back to normal for him, as normal as things could get all things considered, but things got even more complicated for him.

He discovered that his mother hadn't passed away when he was child; she was in fact a member of Time Force. Her mission was to protect his father from a mutant attack, but she fell in love with him and wanted to stay. Knowing that Time Force would eventually force her to return to her own time, she faked her own death to ensure she could stay in the past and watch her son grow up. She remained out of sight for years, silently watching Wes through the years. It wasn't until Alan Collins was presumed dead that she came out of hiding, and Wes discovered the truth. There was another mutant attack, again targeted at key members of Bio-Lab and the Silver Guardians. The idea was to eliminate these targets and prevent the eventual inception of Time Force itself, but Wes and the others were able to stop the mutant. Wes' mother and father were reunited for the first time in almost 20 years, but for the sake of the history logs, who already presumed his mother as dead and his father murdered, the two of them were told to disappear and stay out of histories way. With his father gone, Wes assumed control of Bio-Lab, and was charged with the responsibility of raising his sister, Leslie Collins.

All his life had been an only child, but when his mother reappeared, revealing to him she was pregnant when she left him as a child, his life was turned upside down. Here was a young lady who, in his opinion, was the spitting image of their mother. There was something in the eyes that was familiar to him as well. If attempting to run a multi-million dollar company wasn't enough, he had to raise a sister he didn't know he had, and still try to find time to fulfill his duties as a ranger. Though he wasn't called on much to be a ranger anymore, it still came up from time to time. Eric would need help, and he would go charging out of board meetings to help his partner.

It had been four years now since he took control of the company, and things were looking for Bio-Lab. They'd successfully merged with Operation: Lightspeed, and were in talks with Space Patrol Delta about the possibility of combining their resources. He was going to be needed to oversee that all the negotiations with their respective new partners went smoothly, which meant that he wouldn't be able to fulfill his obligations as a ranger anymore. Leslie had attempted to convince him several times to allow her to take over as red ranger, but he was firmly against the idea. Though she had been the pink ranger for a short time, he wanted to keep his sister out of harm's way. After all, she'd been off at college for a few years now, she had a life of her own. The last thing he wanted to do was put her life in danger, or force her into a life that he knew would be difficult to get out of.

During his run as red ranger, he'd gone on dozens of missions even after Ransik and the other mutants were captured. He knew there was no escaping your life as ranger, and he didn't want that for her. While he knew it was time for him to do other things with his life, he knew there would eventually be a need for a red ranger, but there was a problem; the morpher was designed to work only for his genetic code, meaning that unless he used it, the chrono morpher was nothing more than an oversized wrist watch. Hoping for a solution, he went to the only person he knew of with experience with morphers.

"So what can you tell me?" he asked.

Mrs. Fairweather-Rawlings was considered the best in her field. She'd successfully created the lightspeed morphers from scratch, build zords from the ground up and was highly regarded as being "years ahead of her time". He knew that if anyone could help him with his problem, it was her.

She walked over to him, showing him a blueprint of the morpher. "I've been able to isolate the security protocols in the morpher that prevent anyone without a specific DNA code to use it, but I haven't found a way to deactivate it yet without deactivating the morpher itself," she said.

"I don't want the power to be destroyed, I just…"

"That's a common misconception. Like any other energy in the universe, cannot be destroyed, it can only be transferred. If the morpher was somehow damaged, the power would still be there, but you wouldn't be able to harness it. Think of the morpher as a light switch. The switch itself has no power, but you need it to control the power," she explained.

"Is there a way to let someone else use the switch?" he asked, using her metaphor.

"This is years beyond anything I ever did with the lightspeed morphers, but I have a friend at SPD who might be able to help. I know they're currently working on establishing a link to the morphing grid as well, so…"

"The morphing what?"

"The morphing grid. It's the source of all ranger energy in the universe. My initial reports on Zordon, the original rangers and the grid itself are in the system if you want to take a look at it. The only morphers in history, as far as I know, to not use the power of the morphing grid were the lightspeed morphers, which is why it cost us billions of dollars to power them. We had to come up with an alternate power source for them. Think of the grid as the electrical outlet for all morphers in the universe. Eventually all morphers plug into it for their power," she said.

"And your friend at SPD has access to the grid?"

"Yes. Dr. Manx has worked directly with Andros and the Aquistian rangers on the morphing grid, attempting to access its power."

"If this grid is so powerful, why hasn't anyone gone after it before?"

"Its not that simple. Again, it's like the light switch. Even if you possessed the power itself, you'd need a switch to turn it on. The grid itself is useless without a morpher, which is why protocols like this have been installed into the morphers, to prevent just anyone from using its power," she told him.

"How soon can you talk to Dr. Manx?"

"I can do this afternoon, if you want. Before I do, do you have a candidate in mind for the morpher? Based on my initial testing, the protocols can't be removed, but we can trick it into resetting, allowing someone else to use it," she said.

"Yes, Lt. Tate, one of the Silver Guardians. He's been with the company since the Silver Guardians were assembled and I think he's the perfect choice for the morpher," he said.

"I'll need him to come in so we can get a sample of his DNA, then try to encode it to the morpher itself. With any luck, we can have it operational by…" she was interrupted as an alarm inside the base went off. She hurried over to the control panel. "There's an attack on the base!"

"But the base is underwater, how…"

"I don't know, but from the looks of it, intruders are coming through several access points. If they aren't stopped…"

Wes picked up his morpher, putting it back on. "They will be."

Just then, the doors slid open and Carter rushed into the room. "Wes, you're still here. We could use your help. Robots are attacking the base," he said.

"Lets do it!"

The two of them rushed out the room and down the hall, but as they passed an access point, the doors flew open, allowing water to flood into the base. The water was enough to knock both of them back and up against a wall as the robots stormed in. Carter made it back to his feet, landing a kick to one of the robots as he tried to make his way over the override controls for the door.

Two robots grabbed Wes, and a third one tried to attack him, but Wes kicked the blade out of the robots hand, and did a back flip, breaking free of the robot's grip. A sweep took down one of them, and Wes picked up the blade, ready to take out the second one.

"Stop!" Carter yelled. "They're robots, if you destroy them, the circuitry will come in contact with the water and electrocute both of us."

Wes nodded, dropping the blade and hitting a windmill kick to the two robots, taking them down. Carter managed to seal the doors, preventing the water from flooding in, but it was already up to their knees.

"What's going on here?" Wes asked.

"I'm not sure. I'll try to contact the others," he reached for his morpher. "Dana, this is Carter, come in," he said.

There was no response.

"What about the others?"

"Dana is the only one who still has her morpher, the other Lightspeed Rangers retired years ago. Dana is here, on the base, so I…" he was interrupted as Carter's morpher began to static. There was some distortion, but someone was trying to say something. "Dana, is that you?"

"_I'm afraid Dana can't answer you call at the moment. Is there a message?"_ a sinister voice responded.

"Who is this? Where is Dana?"

"_Dana is with me. If you want to see her again in one piece, come find me!"_

"Who is this?" he repeated, but there was no response. "Damn it. This was just a diversion so whoever it is could kidnap Dana."

"Just relax, we'll find her," Wes said. "I'll contact Eric, he'll be able to help us."

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_**next time on Forever Red II:** Eric and Cole are called into action, Conner is attacked, and Andros makes a decision that could destroy them all_

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	4. Desperate Measures

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_advanced, extended, additional chapters & alternate endings of this story can be found on **rangerfiction . net

* * *

**_

**_Disclaimer:_**_ Power Rangers and all its related logos are property of Disney Entertainment and/or Saban Entertainment. I am using them without permission, but I do not expect to make a profit. If I do, I promise to split it 50/50 with the Disney people. I swear, I do. All original characters are mine, and I do have permission to use them. _

**_A/N_**_: This takes place a few years after Dino Thunder, and is loosely based in the "Future Imperfect" universe. Don't worry; you shouldn't have to read that one to understand this one. _

_Take a sec to review too, I live for those._

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**Eric and Cole - Turtle Cove, California 2008 AD

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Though he would never admit it to her, Eric thought the Animarium was beautiful. The sun had completely set, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The stars were shining a little brighter than usual, and there was a full moon out. There was something about the place, something serene, something peaceful. His job, to say the least, was a high-stress one, so there was part of him that looked forward to his visits to the Animarium. It gave him the chance to relax, to kick back and not worry about the trails and tribulations of life.

Taylor had been exactly what he needed in his life. Oddly enough, he didn't he realize he needed it until he found her. _'To think, the first time I met her, I gave her a speeding ticket,'_ he chuckled inwardly. Taylor was opinionated, overbearing, stubborn and pig headed, which was probably why they got along so well with one another. They had enough things in common to make one another happy, but enough things about them were different to keep things interesting.

At the time, he didn't understand Wesley's obsession with Jen while she was here. The thought of an actual relationship never occurred to him, but after meeting Taylor, he was forced to question a lot of things about his life. He'd grown up believing that the only person he could count on was himself; that ultimately people would let you down. Wes tried to show him he was wrong, and in a way he did, but it wasn't until he and Taylor got together that he truly realized the importance of relying on someone. It wasn't about showing weakness or needing help; it was about the human need to belong somewhere. He'd lived most of his life alone, sticking to himself, and it took being with Taylor to make him realize exactly how empty his life was before he met her.

"What are you thinking about?" Taylor asked him, breaking his train of thought.

He'd been lying on a blanket with his hands behind his head, staring out into the sky. He didn't realize how deep he was into thought until she called his name a few times. "I'm just tired," he said insincerely.

She lay down next to him on the blanket, putting her hands behind her head as well. "Peaceful, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," he confessed.

"I thought Wes and Cassie were going to join us," she brought up.

"Cassie had a class, and Wes was out in Marnier Bay wrapping up the merger with Bio-Lab and Lightspeed," he told her. "Besides, I like it when it's just me and you."

"What was that?"

"What?"

"Was that a sentimental side I just saw? Could it be you actually have a heart under that uniform?" Taylor joked.

"If you tell anyone, I'll have to kill you."

She rolled over on top of him. "I'd like to see you try."

She leaned in to kiss him. It was gentle, yet passionate, and he responded by rolling her over, ending up on top of her.

"What do you think you're doing?"

At that moment, they heard a scream in the distance. They immediately stood up, looking around.

"That sounded like Shayla," Eric mentioned.

The two of them headed towards the sound of the disturbance, but were cut short as from out of nowhere a group of robots attacked them. Eric and Taylor quickly stood back to back, ensuring no one would be able to sneak up from behind.

"Your friends?" she asked.

"Hey, this is _your_ place," he brought up. "You go find the Princess, I'll take care of these guys."

"Are you sure?"

"Just go, I'll handle it," he told her.

She nodded and rushed away, leaving Eric alone against a group of robots. At first count there were a dozen of them, maybe more. They weren't Cyclobots, and the designs of the robots themselves were unfamiliar. Not that it mattered to him anyway.

"QUANTUM POWER!" he called out, and in a flash of light, transformed into the Quantum Ranger. Three of the robots charged at him, but he landed a kick on one of them, taking him down. A second one swung its sword at him, but Eric sidestepped him and pulled the third robot in the way, forcing it to stab him. As sparks shot out of its chest, it also electrocuted the second robot, disposing of him in a hurry. Another robot kicked him in the back, forcing Eric down to his knees. Two other robots put their blades to his throat as another one approached him. This robot was a different configuration, and was obviously the leader of the group.

"So this is the legendary Quantum Ranger. Funny, I expected more," it said.

"You ain't seen nothing yet," Eric shot back.

Eric lay down, spinning around and hitting a windmill kick, taking out the two robots that surrounded him. As he stood up, he picked up one of the blades, stabbing the robot behind him in the face with it, knocking it over. The robot exploded, and Eric stood proudly, setting his sights on the leader. Before he could make a move, four more robots came after it, but almost from out of nowhere Cole charged in with a roundhouse kick, taking down two of them. Another robot came up from behind Cole, but Eric called for the Quantum Defender, firing. Cole ducked just in time, and the disrupter blast caught the robot in the chest, taking him down. The fourth robot tried to make a move, but Cole grabbed its head from behind, twisting it all the way around. Sparks shot out of the head as the robot collapsed.

"You're next!"

"You are skilled warriors, and I commend you, but you're not ready for what awaits you," the robot told him.

"Do your worst, tin head!" Cole scoffed.

"I already have. I have kidnapped your beloved Princess, and the eagle ranger has been disposed of. If you want your Princess back, you'll have to come get her," he said, dropping a small cubelike device, then disappeared.

Eric powered down, and the two of them rushed away to find Taylor. "Taylor! Taylor!" he screamed in a panic, looking for her. He eventually found her near the sacred water, lying face down on the ground. Eric hurried over to her, rolling her over. "Taylor, are you okay?"

Cole watched with a somber look on his face as Eric tried to make Taylor as comfortable as possible. Her skin was pale, and she was cold to the touch. There were no visible wounds of any kind, which made him optimistic, but she was still in bad shape. "They… t-took the Princess," she sighed.

"I know. We need to get you to the hospital so we can find out what's…"

She shook her head. "No, find the Princess. You have to save her."

"I will, but you need to get help. You're not going to survive if…" she quickly interrupted Cole.

"Just go, damn it. For once, jungle boy, listen to me," she groaned.

"Taylor, I…" this time, she interrupted Eric.

"I know you do, now go."

Eric set her down gently, rushing back to the site of the battle. He picked up the small cube the robot dropped earlier, examining it closely. It was clear, and he could see directly through it, but it was obvious it was a holographic imaging device of some sort. Since he was never much of a technical wiz, he thought it best to take the device to Bio-Lab and has it analyzed.

"We did what we could," Cole told him.

Eric knew it was meant to be a comfort, but thought it was a sincere attempt, it was futile. "Our best wasn't enough, was it?" he sighed.

"We'll find out who did this, and we'll get the Princess back."

"Yeah, but it won't help Taylor, will it?"

"_Eric, this is Wes. Come in."_ a voice said.

Eric reached for his morpher as a small holographic image of Wes appeared.

"I was just about to contact you."

"_There was an attack in Marnier Bay, one of the Lightspeed Rangers has been kidnapped. We're going to need your help to…"_

"There was an attack here too, on the Animarium. The Princess has been kidnapped, and Taylor was hurt."

"_Is she okay?"_

He paused. "No," he sighed.

"Eric, I…" 

"The bastards that did it left a holographic device behind. Whoever it is wants us to find him," he said.

"Carter and I are on our way to the NASADA space port, can you meet us there?" 

"I've got Cole with me. We'll be there."

**

* * *

**

**Andros, Aurico and Sky - Utopia City, KO-35 2008 AD

* * *

**

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Andros?" Aurico asked as he walked onto the bridge of the Astro megaship, standing behind Andros as he went over the readings on the main panel one more time.

"No, but it's necessary. If it really is The First we're dealing with, we'll need all the help we can get," he said, never taking his eyes off his work.

"But this isn't help. The last time they were free, they managed to destroy the pink galaxy morpher and almost defeated the rangers. Even in your time, you barely survived. I don't think…"

"I'm only releasing one of them. It's the only one I was able to find. Besides, I've been working with SPD to reprogram them." He turned around. "They only came after us because they were programmed to. Deep down, they're people, _real_ people," he told him.

"Wait? Human? How?"

"It's hard to explain," he sighed. "Think of the cards as early prototypes for the containment that SPD is using now. Years ago, before my time, he was one of Zordon's most trusted allies. He was hurt in a battle, and almost didn't survive. Dark Spector's forces ambushed his entire team. The only way to save him, all of them, was to rebuild them using the available technology. They are 45 percent android, the rest is human. Somehow, someone was able to reprogram them, making them evil… psycho. I've worked on this for years, and now, I'm ready to install the new subroutines. And with this new subroutine in place, he'll be able to choose between right and wrong."

"And what if he makes the wrong choice?"

Andros sighed. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that. I believe that Dark Spector was one of the right hand men for The First, and it was they who created the original program. If that's true, he may have valuable information about The First, and we need all the help we can get," he said.

"But if The First has been contained this whole time, how can anyone be working for it?"

"There has always been evil in the universe, and there always will be. Lord Zedd, Dark Specter, Divatox, Lothor, all of them served that evil in one way or another. All of them believed there was a way to free The First, and they pursued it every chance they got. They may not have worked with it directly, but they all serve the will of The First in some way or another," he explained.

"I still don't think this is a good idea, but if you believe he'll be able to help…"

"I do," Andros said with passion in his voice. "This may be the only way to find Karone and bring her home."

It bothered him that when Karone and Kendricks were abducted, he was helpless to do anything to help. _'There were just so many piranhatrons. They were everywhere,'_ he thought. Though he was able to fight off most of them, he was eventually overwhelmed, and as a result, his sister was taken.

Aurico put his hand on Andros' shoulder. "Do what you must."

With a bit of reluctance, Andros pulled the data card from the pouch in his uniform, sliding it into the computer. D.E.C.A. began to upload the information into the main drives.

'_Upload of data complete,'_ it announced.

"Install the new subroutines and initiate them," he instructed.

'_Working…'_ There was a pause. _'Subroutines installed and initiated. Do you wish to run the program?'_

Andros sighed. "Yes, run program."

The lights began to flicker as D.E.C.A. used all available power to activate the program. For a moment, the lights went out completely, but when they came back on, _he_ was standing there.

Somehow, Andros was expecting him to look different. With the new system upgrades, he imagined there would be a noticeable physical difference, but there was no change at all. He looked exactly the same way he did the first they had encountered each other, which wasn't very encouraging.

"W-Where am I? What's going on?" he asked, puzzled by the sound of his own voice. There was an echo of some type to it, and a deep, metallic sound.

"Do you remember anything? Your name?" Andros asked.

He took a moment to think. "I was leading my team in a battle in the Terrell Ian sector, but we were ambushed." Just then, it all came rushing back to him. "Oh God. Jessica, Mark, Felicia, are they…"

"You and the others were seriously injured, near death. Doctors were able to repair most of the damage, but by the time it was complete, you were almost half android. We're still unclear as to how you and the others came to work for Dark Spector, but your android halves were reprogrammed and sent after the rangers to destroy them," he said.

He took a minute to take in all the information. "We did succeed? Did we…"

Andros shook his head. "No, you were defeated, and you were transferred to data cards. I came into possession of your card and released you," he told him.

"Thank you. I owe you my life."

"Do you remember your name?"

"Yes. My name is Sky Tate," he said.

"Sky, my name is Andros, I'm the red Astro ranger. This is my friend Aurico, the red Aquitian ranger," he introduced.

"It's a pleasure," he hesitated. "Forgive me, but you seem familiar to me. Have we met before?"

"In a way, yes, but it was a long time ago." He took a deep breath. "Dark Specter sent you and the others after my team of rangers. You came very close to destroying us," he said.

"I can't apologize enough, I'm…"

"It wasn't you, it was a program. I've corrected that. The new subroutine I added to your system will allow you to make your own choices. It's, in essence, your free will," Andros said.

"Thank you again for everything you've done for me, for my team. I will never be able to repay you," he said.

"I have to admit, I had an ulterior motive for freeing you. We need your help."

"I will do what I can to help. What is it?"

"Former rangers and the families of former rangers all over the galaxy are being kidnapped by a being we believe to be the first evil in the universe, or at least someone working for it. Rangers are assembling to launch a rescue, but we're sure it's a trap of some kind. We…"

"I will help you. When do we leave?"

"There's more to it than that. We believe that whoever it is working for The First is also responsible for reprogramming you and the others. I know it's asking a lot, but do you remember anything about what happened to you?"

He shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I wish I could be more help, but…"

"No, it's not your fault. It was a long shot. Still, we could use your help on this mission," he said.

"When we do leave?"

"We're headed to Earth first to pick up the others, and then we're off to the Terrell Ian sector," he said.

"What about the other members of my team?"

"I haven't been able to find all the data cards that you were stored on. Over the years, the cards have been to almost every corner of the galaxy. After the last attack by the Psycho Rangers, it seemed like a good idea to separate the cards. They were sent to different parts of the galaxy, and one was even sent to another galaxy to ensure that if you were ever reactivated, the threat could be contained," he explained.

"Over the years? What year is it?"

Andros sighed. "The year is 2008," he said, and then waited to get his reaction.

"My God, it's been 30 years," he sighed. "My brother? What about my brother?" he asked, shocked that it didn't occur to him to ask sooner.

Aurico handed him a folder. "We did some research on that. Your brother Greg lives on Earth now and is part of a group called Space Patrol Delta. He's married, has two children, a boy and a girl. He named his son after you, to honor your memory," he told him.

"Thank you for this," he sighed, looking over the information.

"When this is all over, we'll work on a way to remove as much of the android technology as we can. Maybe, with luck, you'll be able to live out the rest of your life as a person," Andros said. "But for now, it's time to go to work."

**

* * *

**

**Conner and TJ - Reefside, California 2008 AD

* * *

**

It all happened so fast, it all seemed like a blur to him. He and Krista were in the park having a picnic. Sure, it was late, but the moonlight shining off the nearby lake was, to say the very least, romantic. He had never been into that kind of thing, but since he and Krista got together, he found himself doing things he never would have done otherwise.

Krista often drug him to protests to protect wildlife areas, on national landmarks. Though he didn't fully understand it all, he didn't have to. What was important to him was that it was important to her. She was passionate about what she did, and that was part of her appeal. She'd taught him to appreciate the smaller, simpler things in life, to want to more to help others. It was Krista that inspired him to open soccer camps all over the city. Though it got off to a rocky start, there were now several of the camps, and they gave him a feeling of personal satisfaction. He was doing something he loved to do, and at the same time helping small children, who may not have gotten the chance to participate in sports otherwise.

To say that Krista had changed his life for the best would be an understatement. His time as a ranger had been a productive one. He'd saved the city, preventing Mesagog from taking over, and learned the value of teamwork and friendship. Along the way, he also gained the self-confidence he lacked all his life. Being a ranger was a positive experience for him, but not nearly as positive as having Krista in his life.

And that's why it bothered him so much that he couldn't save her.

A horde of robots came from out of nowhere, surrounding them. He told Krista he would protect her, forcing her behind him to keep her out of harms way, but there were just too many of them. He was able to stop a few of them, but without his powers, he was simply outmatched. The robots abducted Krista, disappearing in a cloud of smoke, leaving behind only a small, transparent cube. He'd seen something like it before, but with no idea how to work it, it didn't do him any good. His first thought was to call Ethan, but wasn't able to get in contact with him. His next thought was to find Dr. Oliver, so he picked up the cube and hurried towards Dr. Oliver's house.

On his way, his injuries were getting the best of him. His ribs were sore, he found it hard to breath, and there were a few cuts and bruises, but he refused to let that stop him. If there was a way to find Krista, he knew Dr. O would know it, and he was determined to get there.

He made it to Dr. Oliver's house, knocking on the door, but collapsing on the porch before anyone could come to the door. His injuries were more than likely worse than he cared to admit, and his body shut down on him. The door opened, and there _she _was.

"Oh my God, Conner," she sighed. "TJ, help me!"

Within seconds, Conner felt himself being picked up and taken into the house. They laid him down on the couch, and seconds later, there was a warm cloth on his forehead as she stood over him, cleaning his wounds.

"Mrs. Oliver?" he groaned.

"You were attacked by robots, weren't you?" she asked him.

Her question was enough to make him sit up, stumbling to his feet. "They took Krista, we have to…" before he could finish his sentence, he fell to the floor again.

"You have to rest man," a voice said.

"No, I have to…"

"There's nothing you can do in this condition, we have to get your rest," she told him.

Conner forced himself to sit up, shaking off the disorientation. "I have to find Dr. O. I have to save her," he said.

"So its true, it really _is_ happening everywhere."

"Conner, this is TJ, a former red ranger. TJ, this is Conner McKnight, one of Tommy's students. He was the red Dino Thunder ranger," she introduced.

TJ walked over to him. "Quantrons kidnapped by friend Cassie. I came here to get help from Tommy, but Kat told me their daughter was kidnapped, too," he said. "Do you have any idea what kind of robots they were? Do you know why they attacked you?"

"No, but they left this," he said, revealing the cube they left behind.

It was Kat who took the cube, examining it closely. "It's a holo-cube," she set it down on the table, activating it.

A holographic image of someone in a hood and cloak appeared. _"Rangers, I trust that my Quantrons were no match for the mighty red rangers, but I'm sure my point was made. I have your loved ones, and if you want to see them alive again, you'll come to KO-35 to get them. You have twelve hours,"_ the image said, and then disappeared.

"Who is that?" Connor asked.

"I don't know, but it looks like we're going to have to go to KO-35 to find out," he said.

"Where is Dr. O?"

"He took his zeo morpher and ran off, I'm not sure where he went," Kat sighed.

"His zeo morpher? He said it didn't have power anymore. What could he possibly do with it?" Connor asked.

"If he's with Andros, they'll use the morphin' grid to give it a temporary charge. It doesn't last long, but it gets the job done," TJ told him.

"Where would he go to meet Andros?"

"The NASADA spaceport."

"How can you be sure?"

"Its where we went when the Machine Empire came back. I'm willing to bet there are other rangers there as well," he said.

Conner stood up. "Lets go."

"I understand they took your friend, but…"

"No, if you're going, I'm going with you," Conner insisted.

"But you don't have your powers, what will you be able to do without…"

"I can use the morphin' grid to charge my morpher, too. Besides, I have to try. I love her, and I owe her that much," he said.

TJ nodded. "Fine. I'll give Andros a call on our way, I'm sure he's either here or on his way," TJ said.

"How will you get there?"

"I drove here in Lightning Cruiser, it'll get us to NASADA in no time," he turned to Kat. "Are you going to be okay here by yourself? Those things might come back."

She nodded, smiling slightly. "I can take care of myself. The two of you go, and may the power protect you," she said.

TJ helped Conner up, and the two of them headed out the front door. Kat walked over to the window, or rather what was left of it, watching as the two of them into the Lightning Cruiser and drove away. Once they were gone, Kat headed into the kitchen, going through the box on the kitchen table and pulling out her zeoniers. She quickly headed over to the phone, picking it up phone and dialing.

"Hello? Hey, it's me. I'm going to need a favor…"

* * *

_** next time on Forever Red II:** All former red rangers unite at the NASADA space port & prepare for their battle against The First.

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_


	5. NASADA

_**Disclaimer:** Power Rangers and all its related logos are property of Disney Entertainment and/or Saban Entertainment. I am using them without permission, but I do not expect to make a profit. If I do, I promise to split it 50/50 with the Disney people. I swear, I do. All original characters are mine, and I do have permission to use them. _

_**A/N:** This takes place a few years after Dino Thunder, and is loosely based in the "Future Imperfect" universe. Don't worry; you shouldn't have to read that one to understand this one._

_Take a sec to review too, I live for those._

**

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**NASADA Space-port 2008 AD****

* * *

**

The last time he was there, he had vowed he'd never return. It was a part of his life he was more than ready to put behind him, but it seems that destiny had other plans for him. It had been years since he'd come to the NASADA spaceport, and though he'd promised himself and his wife that he'd never be a ranger again, he had to this one final time. The lives of not only his daughter, but also the friends and family of those closest to him were on the line. He silently promised himself that he would stop whoever was behind these attacks and bring everyone back safely… or die trying.

He and Leo were the first to arrive at the spaceport, and not too long after, Wes, Eric, Cole and Carter showed up. The six of them, to say the least, were an impressive force, but it would take more than them bring back their friends and families. Carter and Wes pulled up in a Rescue Rover, followed by Eric and Cole in a Silver Guardian truck. Each of them got out of their respective vehicles, approaching Tommy and Leo.

"We all got here as soon as we could," Carter said, extending his hand to Tommy.

The two of them shook. "I knew you'd come. Whoever is behind these attacks, they're organized. These are random attacks, each of them were specifically targeted for a red ranger, and each of them have taken someone close to us," Tommy said.

"Do you think it's the Machine Empire? After all, we did stop them on the moon a few years back," Leo brought up.

"Could be, and that would explain why there were robots."

"But that doesn't explain the guy in the hood," Eric chimed in.

"What guy?"

Eric pulled the holo-cube, activating it and setting it on the ground. _"I already have. I have kidnapped your beloved Princess, and the eagle ranger has been disposed of. If you want your Princess back, you'll have to come get her,"_ the image said.

"Who was that guy? And where are we supposed to go to save them?"

Before anyone could answer, a wormhole appeared in front of them. All of them took a few steps back, unsure of what to expect. Within seconds, _she_ stepped through the wormhole, getting a look around. "Whoa, now that's what I call a trip!" she said with an excited tone in her voice.

Next to step through was a young man, who looked around as well. As soon as he was through, the wormhole closed. "I can't believe it, we made it!" he said.

"Who are you?" Eric asked, taking a step forward.

"My name is Jack, this is Charlie, we're from SPD," he announced.

"That's not possible, my company is in the middle of a merger with SPD, and I've never…" Wes was cut short.

"Of course not, we're from the future," she glanced down at his wrist. "Wait, you're the red Time Force ranger?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Where is the other guy? Tate?" she asked.

"How do you know Greg Tate?"

"Listen, none of this is important. What is important is that my superiors believe that an ancient evil is about to be released somewhere in the Terrell Ian sector, we have to get there and stop it before it can be set free," Jack said.

It was Tommy who approached him. "Thanks for coming," he said, extending his hand to him. "KO-35 is in the Terrell Ian sector, that's more than likely where they are."

Jack remembered reading about the legendary Tommy Oliver in the history banks, and though he'd never tell him, he was a little awe-struck to be in his presence. He was known as one of the most influential men in history, and after reading about him in school, he never thought he'd meet him face to face. _'Ha, I even went to Tommy Oliver high school,'_ he chuckled inwardly.

"Wait a second, a girl red ranger?" Eric asked, walking over to her.

"You gotta problem with it?" she replied.

"Just be ready to break a nail when we get there. This isn't kid's stuff, lady, and I don't want to see you get hurt," he said.

"Keep it up and there will definitely be some pain involved," Charlie said.

"Okay you two, stop it," Carter stepped in-between them. "Save it for when we get to KO-35."

"Has anyone heard from any of the other rangers?" Cole asked.

"Jason and Rocky are more than likely on their way; they were attacked as well. Andros and Aurico are on their way now in the megaship. When they get here, we can go," Tommy said.

"Good, we're going to need all the help we can get against the Machine Empire," Leo said.

Charlie laughed. "The Machine Empire? That's what you guys came up with? You have no idea what you're dealing with here," she said.

"And you do?"

"This thing is the First evil, the only evil, the source of every impure thought and negative emotion in the universe. All of you have faced someone who _acted_ evil at one time or another," she glanced over at Tommy. "Lord Zedd and Rita," she looked at Carter. "That big creepy demon queen _bitch_shera," and turned to Wes. "And even mutants, but the First doesn't just act evil, it _is_ evil. No weapon you have will be able to stop it," she said.

"And how do you know so much about it?"

"Because I was an agent of the First. I, and my team of rangers, were recruited by The First to eliminate SPD. We were told that if we were successful, we'd gain control of the entire Earth," she explained.

"An evil ranger? That's something new," Tommy mumbled sarcastically.

"I take it you didn't get the job done," Eric pointed out.

"One more word out of you, Quantum Ranger, and I'll…"

"… you'll what?"

"That's enough, you two. Charlie and the A-Squad rangers were defeated and captured. She was released because she knows more about the First than we do, and my superiors thought she would be helpful on this mission," Jack explained.

"So tell us what we need to know, Charlie," Leo said.

"All of you need to know is that you can't stop the First. If it's released, the galaxy is doomed. The only thing we can do is prevent it from being set free. To free it, the blood of the innocent must be spilled onto the Seal of Daphron. The seal will open and the First will be set free, but it won't be able to take corporal form. In fact, it won't have form at all unless it borrows someone else's," she said.

"You mean this thing can change into anyone?"

"No, it can only assume the form of someone who has passed away," she sighed. "When it spoke to me, it took the form of my brother, Anthony."

"So, so they open the Seal of Daphine or whatever, then what?" Eric asked.

"It will need a power source, a big one. With the right amount of power, it will be able to take corporal form and exist in this plane of existence. When that happens, it's over. There will be no way to recapture it," she said.

"It must want to use the morphin' grid to power it," Tommy said.

"I just had a conversation with Mrs. Rawlings about it, she said without morphers to access the power, the grid itself is useless," Wes brought up.

"It's the only source of power I can think of powerful enough to do what the First needs it to do."

Just then, the Lightning Cruiser pulled up, and TJ and Conner stepped out, joining the others. "Sorry we're late, guys, traffic," Conner joked.

"Conner, what are you doing here?" Tommy asked.

"It's Krista, she was taken by a group of robots. I'm here to get her back," he said.

TJ walked over to Wes. "Wes, I thought you should know: it's Cassie, she was kidnapped," he said.

"What? When?"

"The robots attacked us as well. We tried to fight them off, but there were too many of them," he said.

"What? Were you bangin' this Cassie chick or something?" Charlie blurted out.

"How dare you…" before Wes could approach her, TJ and Leo grabbed him, holding him back.

"We don't need this right now, so either do your part to help us, or it's back in the containment card," Jack warned.

Charlie sighed. "Fine. None of you have a sense of humor at all."

In the distance, they heard a motorcycle approaching. Within seconds, the cycle pulled up and Jason and Rocky removed their helmets, walking over to the rest of the group.

"We about ready to go?" Jason asked.

Tommy nodded. "We're waiting for Andros to get here. When he does, we'll go." He walked over to Jason. "I'm sorry to hear about Emily, man."

"Thanks. Is Katherine okay? Did they take her?"

He shook his head. "No, they took Kimmy," he sighed.

"Oh man, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, we're going to get her back."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but there weren't this many red rangers. I mean, I know I wasn't here for the first one, but this is just too much," Rocky pointed out.

"There are even more, the rest are on the way."

"So what are we going to do about power? Most of us don't even have working morphers anymore," he said.

"We'll be able to get a temporary boost of power from Andros when he arrives, he has access to the morphin grid," Leo said.

At that moment, they were a rumbling sound coming from outside the spaceport. "That's probably him now," Tommy said, heading for the exit.

The other rangers followed suit, making their way outside just in time to see the time ship touch down. There were a quick flash of light as Alex and Kyle both materialized outside the ship, walking over to the group.

"I take it we're on time," Alex said.

"Wes? You have a twin you didn't tell us about?" Cole asked.

"No, it's Alex, he's from the future."

"No, he's not," Jack and Charlie said in unison.

"I assure you, I am. We're from the year 3000, and you guys have a serious problem on your hands," Alex said.

"We know, the First," Eric said.

"We're here to make sure that thing never gets out," Kyle added.

Alex looked around. "We're missing a few people, aren't we?"

"Andros and Aurico are on their way," Tommy said.

Suddenly, the red wind and crimson thunder rangers pulled up on their respective Tsunami Cycles, getting off their bikes and walking over to the group.

"POWER DOWN!" they said in unison. There was a flash of light, and the two of them reverted to their civilian clothes.

"Tommy, Conner, good to see you guys again," Shane said.

"Shane, Hunter, what are you doing here?"

"Our ninja schools were attacked by a group of robots. We held them off, but during the battle, Tori was…" he paused, allowing his sentence to trail off.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Tommy sighed.

"Sensei told us about an evil that was about to be unleashed on the world. We're here to stop it," Hunter mentioned.

"I had no idea there were so many red rangers," Rocky chimed in.

"Well technically, that guy is crimson, that doesn't count. And Quantum boy over there is, well… _quantum_. Is that even a color?" Charlie asked.

"Wait, there's a girl red ranger? Since when do we let girls into the club?" Shane asked.

"Actually, it happens a lot more than you think. In 2028, there will be…" Kyle was interrupted.

"What's important is that we act like a team to get this done. This will affect not only Earth, but also the entire galaxy if this thing gets out. It's going to take everything we have to stop it," Alex told them, interrupting him before he could reveal anything more about the future.

The thought of the contamination to the time line concerned Alex. If something were to happen to one of the red rangers in the past, the results could potentially be even more damaging than anything the First would be able to do. The timeline was altered as result of the first red ranger mission to the moon, and another mission of this magnitude ran the risk of causing even more changes. Still, if there was a chance to rescue Jen and the others, he would need their help. This mission was documented in the history logs, though the details weren't very specific. When he read over there, there was no mention of he and Kyle being there; only that twenty-one red rangers were involved. What was mentioned in great detail was the death of several of the rangers. Part of him wanted to warn them, to prevent their deaths, but to do so would alter the time line. _'Some things are meant to be. You can't change destiny,'_ he thought to himself.

Finally, in the distance, they heard a ship approaching. They all looked up as the astro megaship began landing procedures, setting down on the ground. A door on the side of the ship opened and a platform touched the ground, allowing Andros and Aurico to step off the ship, walking over to the rest of them.

"I see everyone here is, good," Andros said. "There are even a few faces I don't recognize."

"We were beginning to think you weren't gonna show up," Charlie said.

"It's a long trip to KO-35, even in hyperspace, it takes almost an hour," he paused. "Wait, who are you?"

"Officer Charlie Cambridge. SPD, red ranger!" she said, pulling out her morpher and revealing her badge.

He turned to Jack. "Wait, I thought _he_ was red ranger."

"I am, but she is too," Jack said.

"Two red rangers from the same time period, that's not possible, is it?" Rocky asked.

"You and Jason have identical power coins, the Silver Guardians are from the same time period as well, me and Al are from the same time period. Its not so uncommon to…" Kyle was interrupted.

"We don't have time for this," Alex stepped in-between them. "Is the megaship ready to go?"

"We have enough fuel to make it back, yes," Aurico said.

"Good, then let's go," Alex instructed, getting the group back on track.

All of them headed for the platform, but before they could step onto the ship, _he_ stepped out onto the ramp. It was Leo and TJ who recognized him first, standing ready.

"Psycho Red, what are…" TJ was cut short.

"Relax, he's with us. I reprogrammed him, gave him free will. He's a ranger, like the rest of us," Andros said.

"Yes, and I wish to help," he announced.

"For those of you who have inactive morphers, we'll be able to restore your power for a short time. They should be completely recharged and ready by the time we arrive on KO-35," Aurico said.

"Okay guys, let's go."

One by one, each of them stepped onboard the megaship. Once everyone was inside, the ramp retracted, the doors closed, and within moments the ship took off, making its way towards KO-35.

* * *

Rangers who no longer had their powers were escorted to one of the lower decks by Andros and shown how to recharge their morphers. Meanwhile, the remaining rangers sat in the main control room, going over their plans. 

"It's freaky, I tell ya, just plain freaky." She looked over at Wes, back at Alex, then at Wes again. "Except for the hair, you guys are the spittin' image," Charlie said with a grin on her face.

"There are differences," Wes pointed out.

"Like what?"

"Well… for one, I'm a half inch taller than he is," Alex said.

She looked at Alex, then back at Wes. "Could be the shoes."

"Time Force boots do add an inch or two," Kyle added.

Charlie smiled. "Wouldn't it be weird if you _were_ him? I mean, somehow you get frozen and they thaw you out in the future, but you don't remember who you are so they give you a new identity. Or worse, what if you banged his ex-girlfriend, got her pregnant and had the baby who turned out to be his great great great great great great great great great grandmother?" she looked at Alex. "That means before that Jen girl even went to the past, you were bangin' your own great great great great…" She was cut short.

"Will you stay focused? There's a lot at stake here," Alex said.

"What I want to know is how was this thing stopped the first time?" Leo asked.

Alex stood up. "According to the history logs, the most recent attempt by to take over the planet was made in a small city called Sunnydale. A group of teens were able to use some type of mystic energy to trap the First back inside the Seal and prevent it from escaping. In the process, the entire city was reduced to aches," he said. "Our priority isn't to defeat the First, but to prevent it from ever getting out. To do that, we have to prevent the ritual from taking place."

"What ritual?"

"The blood of the innocent will be spilled onto the Seal, releasing the First in limited form. Then, it will absorb a power source, allowing it to take corporal form. When that happens, nothing will be able to stop this thing."

"How do we know? I mean, it's never happened before," Wes said.

"He's got a point. If he had happened before, we wouldn't be here talking about right now," Jack added.

"The First has the power to manipulate almost anyone it comes in contact with. By taking the form of people who have passed away, it can convince anyone to do almost anything. Assuming that it has that much power and it's not even in corporal form, its power would increase by almost one hundred fold if it were to make it to our plane of existence."

"I was only with the First for a short time, but when I was there, the power this thing had was incredible. It convinced us that SPD had to be stopped, that we should work together to destroy it," Charlie mentioned.

"So you were never under a spell or anything? This thing was just very convincing?" Jack asked.

"This thing's is not only convincing, it gets into your head; makes you see things."

"While you were there, did you notice any weaknesses? Anything we can use against this thing?" Kyle asked.

"The only weakness I saw was that it's completely dependant on others to do its dirty work. Yeah, it can tell a good story, but it couldn't get its hands dirty even if it wanted to," she said.

"Aren't we going about this the wrong way? If it's after a source of power, why are we taking the morphin' grid directly to the thing?" Eric asked.

"It won't be able to use the grid, it can only be harnessed by someone pure of heart. The elders who created the grid were very meticulous in its design. Trust me, the grid itself is safe," Alex told them.

"My best guess is that it wants the life energy of the former rangers and family members it captured," Kyle said.

"That can't be right. If that were the case, why would it tell us exactly where to come to stop it? This thing wants _us_," Leo said.

"But what makes us so unique? I mean, they've captured former rangers, why not use them?"

"I'm not sure, but we can't worry about that. When we get there, we'll need to break down into different teams. Team one will concentrate on finding our friends and family and getting them back to the megaship. Team two will deal with the First," Alex instructed. "Psycho Red, you and Charlie may be the two people here who know more about the First than the rest of us, you should lead team two."

"I will do what I can to help."

"Hey, I've done my part. I told you guys what you needed to know about this thing. As far as I'm concerned, I'm leading team three; the team that stays on the megaship while you guys go out there and fight the good fight," Charlie said.

"How the hell your superiors ever thought you were fit for the red morpher, I have no idea," Alex snapped.

"I don't need this from you… from anyone of you. You all sit around this table and judge me like you know me, but none of you know the first thing about me. You have no idea what I've been through, what I've lost, what happened to me. I'm done listening to this crap, I'm outta here!" she snapped as she stood up, heading for the exit.

"Wait, you're under…"

"Save it, Jackie boy, I'm not interested," she said, walking out of the door.

"She certainly is a feisty one, isn't she?" Kyle asked.

"Yes, but she's right. None of you know what she's gone through, the things she's experienced. If her experiences are anything like mine, she has been subjected to manipulation and suggestions none of you can imagine. I had my free will taken from me, all traces of my humanity were stripped away and I was sent after the very people I had vowed to protect with my life. I'm not saying that's a good excuse for her to be the way she is, but it's a reason. She was lied to, manipulated and used. Her emotions were used against her, her mind twisted by the First to make her believe what it wanted her to believe. It's enough to drive someone insane, so all things considered, she's handling it very well," Psycho Red explained to them.

"Maybe he's right, we were too quick to judge her," Carter said.

"Maybe, but we don't have time to deal with her and her hissy fits. If she's not going to help, we don't need her here," Alex said.

"I don't think that's going to be an issue anymore," Cole said, looking towards the window on the ship.

They all turned to the small window, where one of the small escape shuttles was seen flying away from the ship. "Should we go after her?" Wes asked.

"There's no time. We'll deal with her after we put a stop to the First," Alex said.

* * *

"This shouldn't take too long. Your morphers should be ready to go by the time we get to KO-35, but the power is limited. It will only be good for an hour, maybe two," Andros explained to the others as he stood in front of the control panels. Their respective morphers were inside a machine of some kind. He flipped a switch, and the machine began to glow, and there was a humming sound. 

"How does the morphin' grid work?" Rocky asked.

"The grid itself is maintained by the constant struggle between good and evil. It was created to keep a balance. The First is the constant of all-evil, existing on all planes of existence at once, which is why it can't be corporal in only one. Zordon is the embodiment of all that is good and pure in the universe. As long as the two exist, the grid is maintained. If one of them is destroyed…"

"But Zordon was destroyed during the invasion of Earth," TJ mentioned. "I was there."

"Like the First, Zordon couldn't exist in this plane of existence in a corporal form. The energy tube he used was a way for him to communicate with us while he was here. His tube was destroyed, but Zordon himself is still very much alive," Andros said.

"So, what if one of them were destroyed?"

"Neither of them can ever be destroyed. Without good, evil cannot exist, and vice versa. The grid is the embodiment of that struggle, and its energy is used for that purpose," he said.

"Let's assume for a minute that The First wants to use the grid and is successful, what would happen?" Hunter asked.

"If it were to happen, it would absorb the energy from the grid, destroying all good in the universe. TJ, do you remember how Zordon's energy wave cleansed the galaxy of evil?"

"Yeah."

"The same would happen, but the opposite. A wave of evil would sweep through the entire galaxy, destroying everything in its wake," he said.

"But good will still exist, right?" Jason asked.

"Yes, but it wouldn't be powerful enough to do anything about it. With the grid gone, evil would be the dominant force in the entire universe. Luckily, when the grid was designed, a sort of fail-safe was added. Only someone pure of heart can access it. Even if the First got its hands on the grid, it would be useless," he said.

"Still, the First wouldn't be going through all this trouble to get us there if it didn't have a plan," Tommy said.

"You're right, Tommy," a voice said.

They all turned around only to see _her_ standing across from them.

"Trini?" Jason asked, staring in amazement.

"It's not Trini, it's the First," Andros warned.

Trini walked over to Jason. "Tell them, Jason, it's me. You of all people should know. After all, we were very close during the peace conference," she said with a grin on her face.

Jason turned away. "You're not her!"

"Well, that's a matter of perception, isn't it? I have her thoughts, her experiences, her memories, her appearance. I remember all the things you told me the night you went back to Angel Grove to become the gold ranger. You promised to come back to me, but instead you left me. You forgot about me, didn't you?" she asked.

Jason shook his head. "I never forgot," he sighed.

"Sure you did. When it was over, you didn't come back, did you? Instead you married Emily, and what happened to me? Oh, that's right, I died, never being able to tell you how I felt about you."

"Jason, I didn't know you and Trini…" Tommy was cut short.

"During the peace conference, we…" He paused. "It was a long time ago." He turned to Trini. "But you're not her, it wasn't you. I loved Trini, and…"

"Sure you did, you loved me. You loved me so much you left me to die alone. You think you have what it takes to stop The First? To save your bitch of a wife? You're nothing, Jason, NOTHING. When I'm done destroying all your friends, I'm going to leave you for last so you can watch as I have my way with Emily. Then, once I'm finished, I'll dispose of her and let you live with the thought that there was nothing you could do to stop me!"

"You son of a…" Jason cocked back, swinging at Trini, but his fist went right through her. He stumbled forward, almost falling to the ground. It was Andros who caught him, helping him up.

"You'd hit a girl, Jason? Do you beat on Emily too?" Trini asked.

"You can save it, we're on to you. You're not real, and we will find a way to stop you," Hunter said.

"Oh really?" the first turned around, but had changed form. It was now an older woman with dark brown hair. It wore a white robe, and had a warm smile on its face. "You still want to stop me, Hunter?" it asked.

"Mom?" he cried as a tear rolled down his face.

"Hunter, it's not your mother," Shane told him, but it was no use.

"Mom, I…"

"You were always a disappointment to me, Hunter, always. I can't believe how gullible you are; listening to Lothor? Didn't you ever wonder why your real parents left your pathetic ass in the first place? If my husband and I hadn't felt so sorry for you and Blake, we would have left you in that orphanage. Seeing how you turned out, you might have been better off there," she snapped.

"We will stop you, that's a promise!" Andros said. "Now get off my ship!"

It turned to Andros. "I'll see you when you get there, it won't be long now before you and your pathetic friends are gone anyway. TTFN," it said, disappearing.

"What is TTFN?" Conner asked.

"Ta Ta for now, it's from Winnie the Pooh." Rocky glanced around. "I used to watch it… a long time ago," he said.

"Guys, you need to stay focused. It's the First just trying to mess with our heads, to distract us long enough to defeat us," Tommy said.

Andros stepped forward. "He's right, when this is all over, you'll be back with your families. Don't let the First get under your skin," he added.

"He's right, I'm sorry," Jason sighed.

"Andros, we're now in the Terrell Ian sector and approaching KO-35. We should arrive in seven minutes," a voice said over the PA system. 

Andros walked over to the opposite control panel, hitting a switch. "Thanks, Aurico, we're just about ready down here."

"_Great. See you in a minute."_

The machine across the room powered down, and the light died down. Andros walked over to the machine, opening a small hatch and removing the morphers, handing them out to the others.

"Okay guys, it's time to go to work!"

* * *

_** next time on Forever Red II: **Now united, all the red rangers prepare for their confrontation with The First.**

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**_


	6. The Confrontation

_**Disclaimer:** Power Rangers and all its related logos are property of Disney Entertainment and/or Saban Entertainment. I am using them without permission, but I do not expect to make a profit. If I do, I promise to split it 50/50 with the Disney people. I swear, I do. All original characters are mine, and I do have permission to use them. _

_**A/N:** This takes place a few years after Dino Thunder, and is loosely based in the "Future Imperfect" universe. Don't worry; you shouldn't have to read that one to understand this one._

_Take a sec to review too, I live for those._

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**Astro-Megaship escape shuttle IV

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**

Charlie sat in the front of the controls of the shuttle, her arms folded firmly. The shuttle itself big enough for one person, maybe two, and had a very limited range. She hadn't really considered it when she hijacked the shuttle, and she hadn't really given any thought to the fuel reserves. There fuel cells were only at half, and the propulsion systems were only designed to go at impulse speeds, meaning she was going nowhere fast. Thinking things through had never been her strong point. If they had, things might have turned out differently for her.

It was her temper that originally made her betray SPD. Her commanding officer had given the order to secure a research station in New Tech City; the workers there were under attack by a rogue alien. At that point, she was the blue ranger, and her brother, Anthony, was the leader of the A-Squad. She and the other rangers stormed in, but it was a trap. Explosions went off, sealing them into the station. Chemicals in the station ran the risk of being exposed to the heat from the fire, making it imperative that they find a way out as soon as possible. Working together, they found an exit, and Anthony ordered that his team get out first. She pleaded with him to hurry, but before he could escape, there was a chemical explosion. Realizing it was too late for him, Anthony pushed her through the exit and out of harm's way, but as a result was trapped inside.

Back at SPD, Anthony was recognized for what he'd done for his team, and for SPD. He was awarded various medals and awards, and there was a grand funeral celebrating everything that he'd done, but knowing that some random mission cost her brother his life left a sour taste in Charlie's mouth. She was promoted to A-Squad red ranger, and put in command of her team, but by then, most of them were angry with SPD as well. It was that anger that led her and the others to seek out the First. They headed to the Terrell Ian sector, to the Utopian Mountains on KO-35, to the seal of Daphron. She thought that if she released the First, she and the others would be able to harness its powers, to control it. The plan was to overthrow SPD, but it didn't take them very long to realize that the First couldn't be controlled. It quickly took over their minds, bending them to its will. There was no mind control of any kind, no spells, simply manipulation. Assuming the appearance of her brother, the First instructed them who to align with, when and where to strike SPD. It promised to assist her with the destruction of SPD in exchange for being released.

Charlie couldn't have cared less about the consequences of her actions. All she knew was that she wanted SPD destroyed, and she was willing to do anything to see it happen. Of course, when she and the others returned to SPD ready to execute their plan, they were defeated by the B-Squad rangers and sentenced to containment. Her months in containment gave her time to think. Though she knew she was wrong, she took great comfort in knowing that the First hadn't been released. If it had the ability to control her and the other A-Squad members so easily, she knew that if it was released, there would be no one who would be able to resist its power. Commander Cruger released her from containment, offering her a deal…

"_I want you to accompany the B-Squad red ranger to the Terrell Ian Sector and prevent this creature from being released," he said._

_Charlie leaned up against the wall, folding her arms. "What makes you think I know how to stop it?"_

"_I know you and the other A-Squad rangers were in close contact with this being and its agents. If this mission is going to succeed, we'll need someone with extensive knowledge of what we're dealing with," he said._

"_Hello? Remember me? I'm the bad guy here. What makes you think I even want to help SPD after everything you've done to me?" she asked._

"_I know you blame SPD for your brother's death, but Officer Cambridge was one of the finest officers I ever had the honor to work with. He did what he thought was best for his unit, and his decision saved your life and the lives of your team. Any leader would have made the same decision."_

"_No, a real leader wouldn't have sent a team into a situation where someone can get killed. It's your fault he's gone, and you want to sugarcoat it by saying it was your honor to serve with him. It should have been YOU in that damn explosion, not him!" she snapped._

"_Anthony knew the risks when he joined SPD, all of you did." He took a step towards her. "I watched you work your way up from D-Squad reserve unit to blue ranger on the A-Squad. You were given command of the A-Squad and the red morpher because your unit voted unanimously that you should be put in charge. I had faith in you, Charlie, I trusted you, but you let your anger get the best of you and you betrayed that trust. Personal issues aside, this mission stands a better chance of succeeding if you're part of it, so I'm prepared to make you an offer."_

"_What kind of offer?"_

"_You ensure that this mission is a success; you help prevent the release of this creature, and when you return, your memories will be erased and you'll be allowed to live out the rest of your life as a civilian," he told her._

"_A civilian?"_

"_Yes. All memories of your time here at SPD was be erased. Your criminal record for your crimes against SPD will be considered priority one classified, and you'll be allowed to do what you want with you life."_

"_What about the others? My team?"_

"_I offered them similar deals, but none of them were willing. I hoped that you would be more understanding of the situation and be able to put any animosity you have against SPD aside for the greater good."_

"_So I'm like your Obi-Wan Kenobi, huh?"_

"_Excuse me?"_

"_I'm your only hope," she pointed out._

_He sighed. "Yes, you're our last chance to stop this thing."_

_She cracked a smile. "Fine, I'll do it, but I have a few conditions."_

"_I assumed you might."_

"_When we get back, you can mind wipe me or whatever, but I don't want to forget my brother. All my memories of him should be left where they are," she said._

"_Deal."_

"_And second, you'll release the others as well. Erase their memories and let them live their lives. They were only following my orders and shouldn't be blamed for what happened."_

"_Thinking of your team above yourself, Charlie?"_

_She nodded. "Yes, I am."_

"_You're more like your brother than you think. It's a deal," he said, extending his hand to her._

_She reluctantly shook._

"_Well, this is certainly going to be interesting," she sighed. _

Up to this point, she'd held up her end of the deal. She'd given the rangers all the information she could on the First, told them everything she knew about it and how to stop it from being released. She knew she'd still be on the megaship if it weren't for Alex. _"How the hell your superiors ever thought you were fit for the red morpher, I have no idea."_ The statement echoed through her mind. In retrospect, he was probably right. She wasn't a leader, at least not one worth following. Still, when he said it, it reminded her of her brother; how he'd done everything he could to save lives, and his statement was spit in the face to her brother and her family.

"Screw him, I don't need this shit!" she snapped, refolding her arms.

"You're doing the right thing, you know," a voice said.

She turned around only to see _him_ standing there. He was exactly the way she remembered him; sandy brown hair, brown eyes, light complexion and a smile that could always get to her.

"Anthony?" she sighed.

"Yeah Lee-Lee, it's me." He walked over to her. "Leaving those guys was a good decision. I mean, its not like they had a chance to stop the First, and they'll likely all be destroyed in the attempt. There was no need for you to be here," he told her.

"I tried to tell them that, but…"

"You don't have to explain it to me, I know. This shuttle should get you back to Earth, and when you're there, you'll be able to use your knowledge of the future to make yourself a wealthy woman. And, since I haven't officially died yet in this point in time, you'll be able to save my life. We can be together again, and SPD will be gone," he said.

"Gone?"

"Yeah, there won't be a need for them anymore. After all, I'm going to be released soon enough, but I promise you I'll leave Earth untouched, and you'll have your run of the entire planet," he said.

She knew it was the First, she knew it wasn't really her brother, but it didn't matter. It sounded like him, it _looked_ like him, it knew the nickname Anthony use to call her when they were kids. And even worse, it had a point. With her knowledge of what was to come, she would be in a position to change things, shape them to her liking. She'd be able to save Anthony from going on that mission. _'Hell, if there's no SPD, there won't be a mission for him to go on,'_ she thought. They'd be able to be together again, and in control of the entire Earth no less. She couldn't help but consider it; it was a tempting offer.

"The entire planet?"

He nodded. "All of it, I promise you."

"But what about the others?"

"Screw them, remember? After what that asshole from Time Force said about me, you're worried about him? Let them all burn in hell for what they did, and believe me, they will."

She unfolded her arms, turning to the controls. "Setting course to Earth, I should be there in less than five minutes," she told him.

"That's my girl, Lee-Lee. We'll be together soon," he said with a smile.

She nodded. "Yes, we're a lot more alike than you think," she sighed with a smirk on her face.

**

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**KO-35 2008 AD The Utopian Mountains

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**

Jen surveyed the surroundings, hoping to find a way out. The walls themselves were solid rock, and though she was thorough in her investigation, there were no structural flaws that she could find. There were only three walls; the fourth was a force field of some kind, preventing them from leaving. Through the force field, she could see a group of Quantrons standing near what she assumed was the exit. There were no controls of any kind that powered the force field, at least none that she saw.

"Anything?" Ally asked, walking over to her.

"No, nothing. This place is locked up tight. Our only way out of here _with _the civilians will be to trick the guards into dropping the containment field," she said.

"Normally I'd say I would flirt with one of them, but robots don't usually go for that kind of thing."

Jen turned around, getting a look at the other captives. They were an unusual group, to say the least. She and Syd were from the future, only different points of the future. The remaining captives were from, as far as she knew, the present. She remembered Princess Shayla, and she was familiar with Cassie, Karone and Kendricks.

"What are we missing?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"The First is organized, there's a method to its madness. There's no way all of us were captured at random. Each of us must be a threat to it, and it wanted us out of the way," Jen brought up.

"How could Kimmy be a threat? She's only a kid," she mentioned.

"True." She walked over to the Princess, who was holding Kimmy in her arms. "Princess, is there anything you can tell us about the First?" she asked.

"I do know that over 3000 years ago, Merrick and the other ancient warriors fought agents of the First. Most of our finest warriors were defeated in the battle, but a warlock was able to trap it with a containment spell. The agents were eventually defeated, and the First swore revenge," she said.

"Are you able to perform the containment spell?"

She shook her head. "No, the mystical energy I have isn't nearly strong enough to contain the First," she said.

Jen turned her attention to Karone and Kendricks. "Have there been any reports of the First in your galaxy? Any clues on how we can stop this thing?"

"When I was Astronema, I was told about the First. They told me the First was the ultimate evil in the universe, and it was the only being I'd ever known that Dark Spector himself was afraid of. Most of the evil that exists today hopes to take over the universe, hoping to find an access point of the First so they can release it. From all the stories I ever heard, there was one thing everyone seemed to agree on; it cannot be defeated," she said.

"That isn't very encouraging," Kendricks said.

"No, but it's true."

"Even if we could find a way to defeat this thing, it won't do us any good if we're trapped in here," Cassie mentioned.

"That's the least of my concerns. If I know Captain Logan, Alex is already on his way. The other rangers will be coming as well, and when they do, we'll stand a better chance against this thing. As for getting out of here, I've already found a way, but I don't want to leave the civilians here at risk by leaving," Jen told her.

"You know a way out?"

"I may be a civilian, but I can take care of myself. If you have a plan, I say you go for it," Emily said, chiming into the conversation.

"We'd be fine on our own, if we had to," Ally added.

Krista stepped forward as well. "She's right. If you can get out of here, go. If help is on the way, we'll be fine until they get here."

"Dana, Cassie, do the two of you still have your morphers?" Jen asked.

"I do."

"Me too," Cassie said.

"Good, we're going to need them. Cadet Drew, I'm going to need you to…" She was cut short as the door the Quantrons were guarding opened, and _she_ walked into the room. She headed over to the force field, staring inside with a slight smile. "Taylor?"

"Planning an escape, I see," she said.

"Yeah, but how did you…"

"That isn't Taylor, it's the First," Princess Shayla told them.

"I thought the First could only take the form of…" She paused. "Oh God, Taylor," Jen sighed. "What did you do to her?"

"Always blaming the bad guys for your troubles, aren't you Jen? If Eric hadn't been so busy proving his manhood, he might have been able to save me, but instead he let his temper get the best of him. He was too busy fighting to help me, but don't worry about me, I'm in a better place. No worries here, and soon, you can join me," Taylor said.

"You're_ not_ Taylor!" Jen snapped.

"Does it really matter at this point? You've lost, it's over. Soon I will be corporeal, and my reign over the world will be absolute," she said.

"The rangers are coming, they'll stop you!" Karone snapped.

"On the contrary, they're already here, but there's nothing they can do to stop my plan. You see, I've waited for this moment for over a hundred millennia. My plans to find a stable gateway from my temporal prison to this world have taken shape, and it's only a matter of time before it's complete," she said.

"Evil will never win, we will stop you," Dana said.

"Good luck with that, I mean it," Taylor told her.

Just then, the mysterious figure in the hood and cloak walked into the room, dropping to one knee in front of Taylor. "My lord, the rangers have arrived. No doubt they will be looking to rescue their friends."

"I know, which is why you will stand guard here and prevent them from even getting into this room. If they try to enter, destroy them."

"It will be my pleasure."

"As for the rest of you, I suggest you sit back and relax, kick your feet up. This will all be over soon, and you will bear witness to an evil the likes of which you can't even conceive," Taylor said with a sinister smirk on her face, walking out of the room.

* * *

The Astro megaship touched down on the surface of KO-35, and within seconds, the doors opened and the platform extended, allowing all of them to step off the ship. The suns were beginning to rise over the mountains, and there was a slight breeze in the air. All of them stood in a line as Andros, wearing his robe, walked down the line. 

"This is going to be dangerous. I can't guarantee that all of us will come out of this in one piece, but we owe it to our loved ones to do our best. We've all had someone taken from us by the First, and I know you're all eager to get your friends, family and loved ones back, but we have to stick to the plan. Psycho Red, I want you to lead Carter, Eric, Jason and Shane in first. Your mission is to find The First and stop the ritual from taking place. Rocky, Cole, Leo, Alex and Tommy, your job is to hold off any resistance the others might come across. I won't lie to you; there will be hundreds of them, maybe thousands. Just hold them back long enough for Jason and the others to make their way through and stop the First. TJ, I need you to take Wes, Jack, Hunter and Kyle in to find our friends and get them back to the megaship. Aurico, Conner and I will remain here on the megaship and begin the auto destruct sequence. If all else fails, we'll set the ship for a collision course with the mountain and destroy it."

"You don't need my help with that, I should…" Conner was cut short.

"You're still not at 100 percent, and sending you into a battle like this could destroy you. Trust me, this is for the best," Andros explained.

"But I…"

"He's right. Don't worry, we'll find Krista and bring her back safe," Tommy said.

"Remember, try not to morph unless you have to. The charge won't last forever, and you don't want to waste any of the power," Aurico pointed out.

"Okay guys, let's do it!" Jason said.

Each of them nodded, making their way towards the mountains.

* * *

Psycho Red led the others into the cave, walking cautiously. "If I remember correctly, there should be a clearing about fifty meters in, I'm sure we'll find the Seal there," he said.

Before they could take another step, the walls began to shake. Carter, Eric, Jason and Shane stood back to back to prevent anyone from sneaking up behind them; all of them prepared for the worst. The walls of the cave began to shift, and rock-like creatures made their way towards them. Jason landed a kick, but hurt his foot in the process.

"Okay, we're going to need a plan," Shane said.

"I have one," Eric left the group, running towards one of the creatures and hitting a kick to the chest, knocking it backwards. It fell to the ground, but hit a backhand, sending Eric across the room and into the arms of another creature. "Um, time for a new plan," he groaned.

Carter reached for his weapon, aiming and firing at one of the creatures, but it had no effect at all.

Just then, Rocky and Tommy rushed into the cave, hitting a double kick to one of the rock creatures, taking it down and forcing it to let go of Eric. "You guys go, we'll handle these rock heads," Tommy told them.

"Good luck," Psycho Red said as he and the others continued into the cave.

"Oh sure, why couldn't I be on team one?" Leo asked as he grabbed his Quasar saber, charging in at one of the creatures. Before he could do any damage, the creature snatched the saber out of his hand, and then punched him in the chest, knocking him over.

"How the hell are we supposed to stop these things? They're solid rock," Alex pointed out.

One of the creatures leaned down, picking Tommy up and holding his arms behind his back. A second one approached him, cocking back and swinging at him. Tommy struggled free, and the second creature punched the first one in the chest, shattering it into a million pieces. "Like that," Tommy said, standing up and dusting himself off.

Another creature lunged at Cole, but Cole side-stepped him and pushed him, causing it to collide with another one of the creatures, and both exploded on impact. With only two left, Rocky and Leo went after them, positioning themselves behind one another.

"Come on you overgrown rock biter, come get me!" Rocky taunted.

The creature kicked towards him, but Rocky moved aside and force it to kick the other creature instead. One of the creatures fell apart on impact, but the other simply lost its leg. Rocky caught it with a sweep, taking it down, then stood up, and admiring his work. As he turned to walk away, he saw the others staring at him.

"What?"

"Rock biter?" Alex asked.

"You know, from the Never-ending Story," he said. "It's a classic."

"Come on, let's catch up with the others. There's no telling what's going to happen next," Alex said, continuing into the cave.

_**

* * *

next time on Forever Red II:**_ _Jen continues to plan her escape, Charlie returns to Earth, and the red rangers get help from an old friend.

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_


	7. The Confrontation pt 2

_**Disclaimer:** Power Rangers and all its related logos are property of Disney Entertainment and/or Saban Entertainment. I am using them without permission, but I do not expect to make a profit. If I do, I promise to split it 50/50 with the Disney people. I swear, I do. All original characters are mine, and I do have permission to use them. _

_**A/N:** This takes place a few years after Dino Thunder, and is loosely based in the "Future Imperfect" universe. Don't worry; you shouldn't have to read that one to understand this one._

_Take a sec to review too, I live for those._

**

* * *

**

**Utopian Mountains

* * *

**

The cave was cold and damp, and had very little light, making it difficult to see anything. The five of them walked cautiously through the cave, looking for an opening or clearing of any kind.

"Guys, I think I found something," TJ said, motioning for the others. They stopped in front of a line in the cave itself. "There's light coming from it, this might be a door or a hatch or something. I think there might be something behind this wall."

"And how are we supposed to get through the wall to see?"

"Let me take care of that," Jack said, as he walked over to the wall and simply stepped right through it.

"That's a nice trick, but what about the rest of us?" Hunter asked.

It was a clearing of some kind. Jack quickly noticed the Seal in the ground, and what was left of an old man lying beside it. He rushed over to the man to check his vitals, only to discover he was too late. Next, he examined the Seal itself, noticing bloodstains around the sides. "Guys, we're too late, it looks like they did the ritual," he said.

"Do you see a way in for the rest of us?"

Jack walked over to the wall, where there was a lever. He pulled the lever, and the wall opened up, allowing the others in. They hurried over to the Seal to get a look for themselves.

"This means the first is out and about, but where?" TJ asked.

"You need not concern yourself with my master. You will have your hands full with me," a voice said. They quickly turned around, where they say _him._

"Hey, it's creepy hood and cloak guy, I was wondering when we were going to run into you," Kyle said.

TJ and Hunter charged in with a series of chops and punches, but the hooded figure was able to block each one of them. He went for a kick, but TJ did a back flip to avoid it. Before he could land, the mysterious figure grabbed him by the ankles, spinning him and throwing TJ up against the wall. Wes went to check on him while Kyle and Hunter went after the cloaked figure again. Kyle kicked, but the mysterious assailant caught his foot. Hunter tried for a chop, but he ducked, forcing Hunter to hit Kyle. Kyle fell to the floor, and before Hunter could make a move, the cloaked figure picked him up, throwing him onto the Seal itself. Tentacles of some kind began to slither through openings in the Seal, grabbing hold of Hunter and pinning him down.

"Guys, a little help here?"

Wes tried to make the save, but a group of Quantrons stormed in, swinging their blades at him. He managed to avoid them, but when one of them swung again, he caught the blade between his hands, and then kicked it away. Now, equipped with a blade, Wes rushed in, slicing one of them in half. Another grabbed him from behind, but quickly fell to the floor after Kyle blasted it with his disrupter. One of the Quantrons swung at Jack, but its hand went straight through him. Jack swung with an elbow, knocking the Quantron to the floor.

"That is ENOUGH!" the figure in the cloak screamed. "Surrender now, or your friend will be sucked into the void between worlds, where he will spend an eternity of pain and suffering."

One by one, the rangers stood down. The Quantrons overwhelmed them, pulling them towards the wall and putting their hands over their heads. Tentacles came out of the walls, trapping their wrists to the walls themselves, leaving them helpless. The cloaked figure waved his hand over the Seal, and the tentacles released Hunter, who gasped to catch his breath. The Quantrons then trapped him up against the wall as well.

"You won't get away with this!" Wes said.

"But I already have, ranger. It's over, and your last-ditch efforts to rescue your friends will be your undoing," it told him, disappearing.

"Jack, anytime you wanna do that thing where you pass through solid objects, it would be helpful," Kyle mentioned, struggling to get free.

"I can't, something is blocking my genetic power. I'm stuck here."

"Great, things just can't possibly get any worse," Hunter sighed.

At that moment, the tentacles coming from the seal inched their way over to the old man lying beside the seal and began to crawl into any opening of his body they could find. Soon, the tentacles had consumed every part of him and the old man stood up with an eerie green glow in his eyes.

"You just _had_ to say something, didn't you?" Kyle groaned.

* * *

Jen waited patiently, pacing back and forth in their small cell. Based on the readings from her morpher, Alex was not only in the caves, but nearby. She knew it was only a matter of time before he showed up, but even then, without a plan to stop the First, all their efforts would have been for nothing. 

The figure in the hood and cloak walked into the room again along with a group of Quantrons, each of them holding disrupter cannons. "Make no mistake, ranger, I have no qualms about destroying all of you here and now. You've served your purpose; the red rangers are here, so there is no more use for you. Attempt anything foolish, and you will pay with your lives." He waved his hand in front of the force field, and it disappeared. With it gone, he stepped inside, snatching Kimmy out of the arms of Princess Shayla.

"Princess, help me," she cried.

"Leave her alone. If you need someone, take me," Cassie said, stepping forward.

The figure didn't respond at all. It simply walked out of the cell and waved its hand again, reactivating the force field, then made its way out of the room, leaving the Quantrons to stand guard.

**

* * *

**

**NASADA spaceport

* * *

**

"Perfect timing," she sighed as she broke through the Earth's atmosphere. The fuels cells were at one percent, giving her just enough power to get to her destination. She'd had to reroute power from other systems to keep the shuttle in the air, including taking energy from life support. As a result, the air in the shuttle was getting thin, making it difficult for her to breath.

Charlie looked at the control panel, confirming that the coordinates were correct, and according to the readings, she would touch down in less than thirty seconds. _'Any longer and I'd be dead before I got there,'_ she thought. The shuttle began to slow down, releasing the landing gear and touching down gently on the surface. There wasn't much impact, but it was enough to shake the shuttle slightly.

She quickly unstrapped herself, opening the hatch and stepping out of the shuttle. _'Air!'_ she thought, taking a deep breath.

She glanced around, getting a good look at her surroundings. "NASADA," she said, smiling slightly. The ranger's vehicles were still where they had left them, including the Silver Guardian truck, the Tsunami Cycles and… "The time ship."

With a smile on her face, she walked over to the time ship, looking for a way in. There were no hatches, at least none that she could see. She was about to give up, but there was a flash of light, and almost instantly, she was inside the ship. "What the f…" she paused. "I hate teleportation," she sighed, walking over to the controls and sitting down.

The controls themselves weren't too dissimilar to the ones used in SPD, but there were a few that were unfamiliar. Still, she hoped that the ship itself would be helpful. "Um, computer?" she called out.

There was no response.

"Oh come on, if the megaship can talk, why can't you?"

Still, no response.

"This works all the time on Star Trek. Come on, help me out here," she called out.

No response…

She sighed. "Fine," she looked around, hoping to find something that could help her. "Time circuits," she headed over to them, adjusting them to her desired destination. "I sure as hell hope this works."

'_Time circuits engaged,'_ the computer announced.

"Oh, _now_ you wanna get all chatty with me. Where were you when I needed you?"

The ship began to lift off, and Charlie hurried over to a seat, strapping herself in. She watched as the ship took off, and a temporal vortex opened in the sky. The ship inched towards the vortex, eventually going inside. "Okay, here we go…."

* * *

**Utopian Mountains

* * *

**

Tommy and the others found themselves at a dead end, unsure of which way to go. "I am afraid we're lost," he sighed.

"It not your fault, every corridor in this place looks alike. For all we know we've been walking in circles the whole time," Leo mentioned.

"I have an idea," Alex reached for his morpher. "I'm going to try to use the tracking device in my morpher to find Jen. Chances are she's a prisoner with the others," he said. Within moments, his morpher began to beep. "We have to get through this wall."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Rocky asked.

"Look." Cole pointed out slits along the wall. "This is an opening of some kind, we just need to know how to access it," he said.

"Wait, I believe I know a way." The red Psycho ranger approached the wall, opening a small panel in his arm and adjusted something inside. There was a humming sound, and almost instantly, the wall slid open, allowing them in. "When I was here, we were equipped with…"

Before he could finish his sentence, a creature attacked him.

"Hey guys, good to see you!" Kyle said.

Alex turned around only to see Kyle and the others trapped along the wall.

"What happened to…"

"Just beat the squid guy, we'll talk later."

Eric and Carter grabbed their disrupters and fired, but it only managed to slow the creature down. Next, Jason rushed in with a series of kick, forcing it to stumble back. It was Psycho Red who pulled a small device out of its chest and threw it at the creature. On impact, the device exploded, blowing the creature to pieces.

"Yuck, squid guts!" Jason groaned, trying to wipe what was left of the creature off of him.

"I see you guys found the Seal," Leo said.

"Yeah, but a lot of good it did us," Hunter sighed.

A wall slid open, and the mysterious figure in the hood and cloak appeared. "Welcome rangers. If you could be so kind as to take your places along the wall," it said coldly.

"If you think we're just going to…"

"Oh, you're going to, or your friends and family will tossed into the Seal," he said.

"You're bluffing!"

"Am I?" it asked, motioning upwards. They all glanced up to see there was a little girl dangling over the Seal from a chain, screaming.

"Who is… oh no, Kimmy! Don't worry honey, I'll get you down," Tommy screamed.

"I wanna go home, Daddy, help me!" she cried.

"I'm coming, sweetie."

"Do as I command, or she will be the first to be trapped inside the Seal," the mysterious figure warned. Quantrons entered the room as they forced the rangers up against the wall. Again, tentacles came out of the wall, trapping the rangers by their wrists. "My collection is almost complete. When the others arrive, it will be the end of your world and the beginning of mine!"

* * *

"I'm ready over here," Aurico announced. 

With a heavy heart, Andros walked over the opposite control panel on the Astro megaship, standing in front of a series of controls. _'I barely got to know this ship,'_ he sighed, placing his hand on the panel. "D.E.C.A, initiate the auto-destruct sequence," he announced.

'_Auto-destruct sequence is online. Please specify time limit so countdown can commence,'_ the computer responded.

He glanced over at Aurico. "Do you think twenty minutes is good?"

"It's as good a time as any," Aurico sighed.

Andros nodded. "Set countdown for twenty minutes," he instructed.

'_Countdown is set for twenty minutes. Should I begin countdown now?'_

"Yes, begin the countdown," he sighed.

'_Countdown has begun. Auto-destruct will initiate in 19 minutes, 57 seconds,'_ the computer warned.

"I hope we're doing the right thing," Andros said.

"We are; it's for the greater good, right Conner?" he asked, turning to Conner, but he was nowhere to be found. "Conner?"

Andros turned around. "Oh no. Computer, where is Conner McKnight?"

'_Conner McKnight is not on board the Astro-megaship.'_

"You don't think he…"

"Of course he did. We should go after him, he's in no condition to be out there alone," Andros said.

"I will remain here with the ship. If the rangers are successful, someone will need to be here to de-activate the auto-destruct," he said.

"I will be back as soon as I can."

* * *

Conner had been wandering through the caves almost aimlessly. He knew where he wanted to go, but had no idea where it was. He wished he'd stood up for himself, that he'd gone with the others when they originally headed into the mountains, even though he knew Andros was right. His ribs were still sore, and he was in condition to be fighting, but he owed it to Krista to do whatever he could to save her. 

He came to what appeared to be a dead end. There was no where else to go, so he turned to head back, but the way he had come was gone. _'The walls are shifting,'_ he thought to himself. Before he could do anything else, the walls began to close in on him. Judging by the speed and distance, he had a little less than three minutes to make his move. His first thought was to go down, but the ground was solid rock, so digging was out of the question. Next, he looked for an opening, something, anything he might have missed the first time. One of the walls had a light coming from it that appeared to be behind it, but there was no way to get around it to be sure.

He stepped as far back from the wall as he could, got a running start and rammed into the wall with his shoulder, hoping to knock it out of place, but nothing happened. "Yeah, great plan McKnight," he sighed, rubbing his shoulder. His only other option was to go up, but with nothing to hold onto, it seemed impossible to make it up there. He glanced around, hoping to find something to stand on, but there was nothing.

The walls were getting closer, and there was nowhere for him to go. The walls were inches from closing in on him.

"Is someone in there?" a voice asked.

His first thought it was it was more than likely an agent of the First, in which case it wouldn't be a good idea to say he was in there. _'But things can't really get any worse, can they?'_ he thought.

"Yes, I'm in here," he called out.

"Duck!" the voice instructed.

Following instructions, Conner ducked down as low as he could go, covering his head just in case. There was an explosion, and when he looked up, there was a ranger standing there with a weapon in hand. "Come on!"

Conner stepped out of the stone trap, getting a good look at the person who had saved him. "A ranger? A pink ranger? I thought this was a red ranger mission," he pointed out.

"Red? Pink? What's the difference really? POWER DOWN!" There was a flash of light, and the ranger was replaced by…

"Mrs. Oliver?"

"You look surprised."

"You were a… what are you…"

"There will be plenty of time to answer all your questions. Right now, we need to find the others," she said.

He nodded. "Right."

"From what I can tell, the walls are shifting, we're going to have to make our way through here as best we can," she told him.

"There's a light coming from this wall here. I think there's something behind it."

Kat walked over to the wall, observing the light coming from the edges. "It's a door, or an opening. If we work together, we should be able to get it open. You ready?" He nodded, and the two of them took a step back, hitting a double kick to the wall. "It moved, but it's not enough. Again!" they went back a second time, and a third, kicking the wall. On the fourth attempt, the entire wall fell. "Good work."

They walked into the opening, where they saw…

"Krista!" Conner exclaimed, rushing over to her, but was stopped by a force field. The impact was enough to knock him back, falling to the floor.

Kat walked over to him, helping him up. "You didn't see that coming?" She turned to the others. "Cassie, are you guys okay?"

Cassie walked as close to the field as she could. "Yes, we're fine, but we're trapped in here."

"Is anyone hurt?"

It was Jen who stepped forward. "No, but they came and took your daughter. We tried to stop them," she sighed.

Kat nodded. "The megaship is outside, we need to get all the non-rangers out of here."

"I can handle that." Jen turned to her morpher, opening a small panel. She removed a small chip, placing it on the force field. The field began to tremble, and eventually collapsed.

"How'd you do that?"

"It's the chip that filters the energy for my morpher. It stops too much energy from being released, otherwise we'd die from radiation poisoning from being exposed to the energy too long," Jen said.

"Impressive."

"If you could do that the whole time, why didn't you?" Ally asked.

"I didn't want to get us out of here with nowhere to go. You and the Princess aren't rangers, and we would have run the risk of getting you hurt, or worse," Jen told her.

"Does everyone here have their morphers?" Kat asked.

"I do," Kendricks said.

"So do I," Karone said.

"Me too," Cassie added.

"Good. Kendricks, I want you to take the Princess, Ally and Krista out of here. Head back to the megaship, tell Andros that we're going to try to stop the First. The rest of you come with me, we have friends to save," Kat instructed.

They all nodded in agreement, running their separate ways.

* * *

Aurico paced back and forth on board the ship, simply waiting; his nerves were getting the best of him. It had been a few minutes since Andros went after Conner, and he was becoming concerned. If the First had been released, not even the megaship being on auto destruct would be able to stop it. 

"You look worried, my friend," a voice said.

He turned around to see _her_ standing there.

"Delphine?" he asked.

"Yes my friend, it's me."

"But you're… I mean, you were…"

"I know. I'm here to warn you."

"About what?"

"This is a bad idea. The First is released, and sacrificing yourself by blowing up this ship will change nothing. It's not worth it, de-activate the sequence at once," she said.

"But that would…" he paused. "No, I won't."

"Don't be a fool. You'll destroy yourself, this mountain and anything within three miles of the explosion. Think of the innocent people here, do you really want to risk their lives in this futile attempt to stop what cannot be killed?"

"You want me to stop the sequence because it's a threat to you. If it weren't, you wouldn't have gone through the trouble of pretending to be Delphine and coming here to talk me out of this," he said.

"I'm here to help you, not trick you. There's nothing the rangers can do to stop me, you know that. All this technology is no match for me. Technology couldn't stop me then, and it won't help now," she said.

"That's right, it was some sort of spell that stopped you the last time, an amulet if I recall correctly," he said.

"The last time I attempted to break free, thousands died in an explosion and an entire city was destroyed. Do you want to run the risk of that happening here, on KO-35? Everyone here is so peaceful, so innocent. Could you live with their deaths on your conscience?"

"For the greater good, I will do what I must."

"You rangers and this grand idea of the _greater good._ What is that, anyway? Zordon destroyed his only link to this plane of existence for it, thinking he would wash away all the evil of the world. But what happened with that? Less than a year later, evil was back. Rangers have died thinking they were doing what was for the greater good, but what did it get them? They're gone, and evil is still here. Evil will always be here, Aurico, and your attempts to stop me here and now will do you no good. I will always exist."

"Exist all you want, but when you're back inside the Seal, you won't be able to cause any more trouble."

"Is that what you think? Even inside the Seal of Daphron, I have been able to influence every living being in the universe, so trapping me inside only prolongs the inevitable. My existence is necessary, it is eternal, and nothing you do here today will stop me."

'_Auto-destruct will initiate in 10 minutes, 25 seconds,'_ the computer warned.

"We'll just see about that," Aurico sighed.

"Fine, have it your way. You and all those you cherish will be the first to die by my hands," Delphine said, disappearing into a flash of light.

Just then, Krista, Princess Shayla, Ally, Emily and Kendricks walked onto the bridge of the ship.

"Aurico," she said.

"Princess, you are safe," he said.

"Yes."

"But how…"

"It's a long story. Right now we need to get ready, whatever is going to happen, it's going to happen right now," Kendricks said.

"I have to get in there, to help the others," he said.

"You go, we'll stay here."

"But the auto-destruct is activated, the ship will blow up in less than ten minutes," he said.

"Then you'd better hurry up," Ally told him.

With a nod, he rushed off the bridge.

* * *

_** next time on Forever Red II: **Now united, the red rangers will join forces with the pink rangers in their ultimate battle against The First**

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**_

_**  
**_


	8. The Battle

_**Disclaimer:** Power Rangers and all its related logos are property of Disney Entertainment and/or Saban Entertainment. I am using them without permission, but I do not expect to make a profit. If I do, I promise to split it 50/50 with the Disney people. I swear, I do. All original characters are mine, and I do have permission to use them. _

_**A/N:** This takes place a few years after Dino Thunder, and is loosely based in the "Future Imperfect" universe. Don't worry; you shouldn't have to read that one to understand this one. _

_Take a sec to review too, I live for those. _

**

* * *

**

**Utopian Mountains

* * *

**

Trini walked back and forth, surveying the mountain. Each of the red rangers was trapped along the wall in front of the Seal of Daphron, each of them struggling to escape. It was, to say the least, an impressive sight. Rangers from every generation were there. Between them, they had defeated every known evil in the galaxy; Dark Spector, Lord Zedd, Master Vile, the Machine Empire; all of them had fallen to a generation of rangers. But now, though they'd tried their best, all of them were contained; all of them helpless to prevent what was about to happen.

"You should really give yourselves a hand. After all, you made it a lot further than I thought you would," Trini sighed, continuing to walk.

"You haven't gotten away with this yet, we'll find a way to stop you!" Alex snapped.

She giggled. "Are you serious? Every red ranger from every generation is here, some of you from other times. You symbolize the best hope for the world, yet none of you were a match for my agents. After countless millennia of waiting, planning, my time has come. I will be free. All your efforts were for nothing, your attempts were in vain," she said.

"You'll never get your hands on the Morphin' Grid, and without it, you're trapped. Face it, your plan has failed," Tommy said.

Trini walked over to him, smiling slightly. "Is that what you think this is about? The Morphin' Grid? You think I need it for what I'm about to do? You're sadly mistaken, Thomas." She turned around. "Yes, the grid is a source of unlimited power, but I myself cannot gain access to it. In order to use the power, I need something to harness it, to focus it."

"Our morphers…" he sighed.

"Yes, your morphers are the keys to the grid, and by using them, I will permanently open the seal, and I will be free," she told them.

"Okay, I heard what I needed to know," a voice said.

The First turned around as Katherine rushed in along with Cassie, Karone and Dana.

"Kat!" Tommy called out.

"Cassie!" Wes exclaimed.

Cassie waved slightly. "Hey Wes, miss me?"

"Of course."

"This will all be over in a minute," she said.

"She's right, it will be," Trini snapped, waving her hand slightly, and within seconds, a group of Quantrons stormed into the room.

"You ready guys?" Kat asked.

"Ready!"

"ITS MORPHIN' TIME. ZEO RANGER ONE, PINK!"

"LET'S ROCKET! PINK ASTRO RANGER!"

"GO GALACTIC! PINK GALAXY RANGER!"

"LIGHTSPEED RESCUE! PINK RESCUE RANGER!"

"SPD, EMERGENCY! SPACE PATROL DELTA PINK RANGER!"

There was a brilliant flash of light, and each of them were transformed into the power rangers. Karone called for her Quasar Saber, charging in after the Quantrons. A flying spin kick took one of them down, and she landed, and hit another with a sweep. A third Quantron snuck up from behind, but she sliced him in half with her saber, eliminating him. Syd called for her delta blaster, aiming and firing at every Quantron who made a move while Kat and Cassie hurried over to the rangers trapped along the wall, hoping to free them.

"Not so fast, ladies," Trini said, and before anyone could respond, a group of rock creatures came through the walls, going after Kat and Cassie. They hit a double spin kick, but it had no effect. They tried again, but still no luck. One of the creatures grabbed Kat from behind and began to squeeze. The second creature swung at Cassie, but she did a flip to avoid contact. At that exact moment, Kat squirmed free, and the second creature punched the first one in the chest, destroying it. Kat and Cassie nodded at one another, doing for a double sweep on the remaining creature. It stumbled back, but it wasn't enough to knock it over. It was Wes, still trapped on the wall, who kicked forward. It was enough to send it falling to the ground, breaking into a million pieces.

"Thanks, honey!" Cassie said.

"Anytime."

Now, pink rangers, each of them with a weapon in hand, surrounded the First.

"It's over, you've lost!" Karone said.

"Have I? What do you plan to do? Put your weapons together and stop me? You cannot hurt me, I am immortal, and your being here will only secure my release that much quicker!" Trini told them.

"We'll see about that," Dana said.

"You're right, let's see."

Trini, with a flick of the wrist, began to drain the energy from the pink rangers. All of them powered down instantly, collapsing to the ground. Their energy, in the form of a cloud, hovered over the Seal of Daphron. The Seal began to shake as the cloud lowered onto it.

"YES! I can feel the power surging. Soon, I will be complete!"

"Not if we have anything to say about it," Conner said as he rushed into the room along with Andros and Aurico.

The three of them stood in front of the First, ready to make their move. Before they could, a horde of Sting Wingers stormed into the room, surrounding them. Andros and others glanced around, going over their options.

"It must be fifty of them," Aurico mentioned.

"I know, it's unfair."

"Yeah, for them," Conner said, rushing in with a spinning heel kick, taking down two of them. One grabbed him from behind, but he fell to his knees and flipped it over his shoulders, sending it crashing into two others. Aurico made his move with a double axe handle on one of them, followed by a roundhouse kick to another. Andros did a back flip, landing on one of the Sting Winger's shoulders, then flipped it over to the ground. One of the Sting Wingers swung a sword, but Andros side stepped him, grabbed the sword and sliced off a Sting Winger's arm. As it fell to the ground, Andros caught the severed arm, using it as a weapon against the other Wingers.

Before long, the three of them stood back to back, surrounded by a pile of defeated Sting Wingers.

"Is that the best you got?" Andros asked.

"Actually, no," the First said, emitting an energy beam from its hand, knocking the three of them to the ground. "You have no idea what you're up against, the power I possess. I am infinite, I am eternal, I am…" it paused as it realized that Conner had been busy releasing the other rangers from the cave wall.

"We're bored!" Jason sighed.

"You guys ready? Let's do it!" Tommy instructed.

"IT'S MORPHIN' TIME. MIGHTY MORPHIN' POWER RANGERS!" Jason and Rocky said in unison.

"IT'S MORPHIN' TIME. RED AQUITIAN RANGER!"

"IT'S MORPIN' TIME. ZEO RANGER FIVE, RED!"

"SHIFT INTO TURBO! RED TURBO RANGER!"

"LET'S ROCKET! RED ASTRO RANGER!"

"GO GALACTIC! RED GALAXY RANGER!"

"LIGHTSPEED RESCUE! RED RESCUE RANGER!"

"TIME FOR TIME FORCE! RED TIME FORCE RANGERS!" Alex and Wes said in unison.

"QUANTUM POWER!" Eric and Kyle said in unison.

"WILD ACCESS! RED WILD FORCE RANGER!"

"NINJA STORM, RANGER FORM! HA! POWER OF AIR!"

"THUNDER STORM, RANGER FORM! HA! POWER OF THUNDER!"

"DINO THUNDER, POWER UP! HA! RED DINO RANGER!"

"SPD, EMERGENCY! SPACE PATROL DELTA, RED RANGER!"

"PYSCHO RANGER!"

"POWER RANGERS!" they all said in unison.

"Impressive smoke and mirrors, rangers, but it doesn't change the fact that all of you are here for one reason, to release me. Ironic, isn't it? You came here hoping to stop me, but if you hadn't come, none of this would be possible," the First told them.

"That's where you're wrong. This ends here and now!" Alex said.

"You're right, it does, for YOU!" the mystery hooded figure said as it appeared in a cloud of smoke. "My master will be free, and evil will rule," it said, pulling its hood back to reveal…

"Lothor? How?" Shane asked.

"What can I say? The First can be very persuasive!" he said. "And now, every ranger in history will be destroyed once and for all!"

Before any of them could respond, an entire legion of Kelzaks and Ghouls appeared, going after the rangers.

Alex and Wes teamed up on a group of Ghouls, both of them calling for their Chrono sabers, rushing in after them. Alex held his saber in both hands, allowing Wes to use it as leverage to flip over him. In mid air, Wes grabbed Alex' saber, and with a saber in each hand, took down two of the Kelzaks. Wes ducked as he tossed Alex his saber, and Alex jumped over Wes, slicing off two of the Kelzak's heads.

Jason and Shane fought with Lothor, who seemed to be able to anticipate and block every attack they threw at him.

"You better tell this guy who you're dealing with, Shane. Neither of you are a match for me," Lothor taunted.

"That's what you think," Jason said, throwing his sword at Lothor. Lothor sidestepped it, and the handle of the sword lodged itself into the wall of the cave.

"You missed!"

"I wasn't aiming for you," he said as he and Shane hit a double sabat kick, knocking Lothor back. Lothor stumbled back, falling onto the sword, driving it into his chest.

Lothor looked down at the sword sticking out of his chest, then back at them. "Now that's just not fair," he groaned, eventually falling to the ground.

Eric and Kyle stood back to back, each of them with a Quantum Defender in hand, blasting through the Kelzaks. A ghoul charged at them, but they hit a double spin kick, and while it was in mid air, both of them fired their defenders, vaporizing the Ghoul on impact. One of the Kelzaks were able to kick the Quantum Defender out of Eric's hand, but before it could make a move, Carter rushed at the Kelzek with a series of chops, taking it down. Eric did a flip, catching his Defender in mid air, landing on his feet, aiming and firing at Carter. Carter ducked. And the beam blasted a hole through the Kelzek behind him.

Tommy called for the Zeo cannon, firing into the group of Ghouls, and there was an explosion, destroying all of them. As Tommy gave Jack a high five for his efforts, one of the Kelzaks snuck up from behind, stabbing Tommy in the back with a sword. Tommy fell to his knees, clutching his wound before collapsing to the ground. A Kelzak swung at Jack, but its fist went straight through with him, and Jack landed a kick, knocking it up against the wall.

"You okay?" Jack asked, tending to Tommy.

"I'll live, just go!"

"You sure?"

"Just go!" he repeated.

Carter called for his rescue blaster, aiming at one of the Quantrons. Before he could fire, two more grabbed him from behind. Another Quantron swung a blade at it, jabbing in into his stomach, forcing him to fall to his knees. Hunter rushed in with a kick, knocking one of the Quantrons away. Another one rushed at him, but he gave it a backdrop, forcing it to collide with the other one. With them out of the way, he turned to Carter.

"This isn't as bad as it looks," he said, grabbing hold of the blade and pulling it out.

Carter howled out in pain as he powered down. "Just tell Dana that…" before he could finish his sentence, his eyes glazed over, and his body went limp. Hunter stood up with a look of determination in his eyes, picking up the blade still covered in Carter's blood and charging in after several Quantrons. They swung, but he ducked, spun around and sliced off their legs by the ankle, knocking them to the ground. Another one swung, but he used the blade to block it, and then connected with a side kick. The Quantron stumbled back, hitting the cave wall, and Hunter rushed in, stabbing it through the chest.

Aurico and the red Psycho Ranger teamed up to take the remaining Ghouls. Psycho Red called for the Savage Sword, using it to slice through the Ghouls, destroying them almost instantly. Soon, the entire army was defeated, leaving only the rangers standing in front of The First, who was now floating over the Seal to Daphron. The Seal itself was glowing with pink energy, and the First seemed to be absorbing it.

"It's too late rangers, I have won. Your attempts to stop me were in vain. Soon I will be complete!" the First said, and with a flick of its wrist, all of the rangers powered down instantly, collapsing to the ground. The energy from their morphers hovered over the Seal of Daphron, and the First began to absorb it.

"MY GOD, THE POWER!" it screamed, shaking the entire cave.

All of them were struggling to get to their feet, but with no luck. Just then, a ship crashed through the side of the cave, causing an explosion. The door to the shuttle opened as Charlie stepped out, folding her arms.

"Looks like you guys could use some help," she said with a grin.

"THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO NOW! I HAVE THEIR POWER, AND MY REIGN OVER THIS MISERABLE PLANET WILL BE ABSOLUTE!" the First screamed, its voice enough to vibrate the entire cave.

"You're right, there isn't much I can do, but my friend here just might have a shot," she said. Just then, another red ranger stepped off the shuttle with an amulet in hand. He walked towards the Seal, holding up the amulet as it began to glow.

"This ends now!" he said.

"W-WHO ARE YOU?"

The red ranger didn't respond. Instead, he turned to Charlie. "I need to perform the ritual uninterrupted. Can you buy me some time?"

"Count on it." She reached for her morpher. "SPD EMERGENCY! SPACE PATROL DELTA RED RANGER!" she called out, and in a flash of light, transformed into the red ranger.

"NOTHING WILL STOP MY ASCENSION NOW!"

A group of Quantrons appeared in a cloud of smoke, standing between Charlie and the Seal of Daphron. She took a look at her surroundings. "This would probably be a lot easier if I didn't have to step over all these other guys, but I got this!" she said.

Two of them rushed at her, but she ducked, picking up both of the Quantum Defenders, aiming and firing at them. It was enough to burn a hole through their chests, and as they stumbled back, Charlie rushed at them with a ninjetti kick, taking them down. Two more swung their blades at her, but she did a flip to avoid them, landing behind them. As one turned around, she kicked it in the stomach. It dropped its blade, and Charlie picked it up, ramming it into the Quantron's stomach. The other one rushed at her, but she pushed it forward, sending it into the other Quantron. Both collapsed to the ground, and she quickly fired the defender, stopping another Quantron from rushing towards her.

Meanwhile, the other red ranger began his chant. "Per vox of quicumque est bonus quod putus , per vox of Ordo of Meledon , EGO to order vos ut reverto ut vestri carcer. Nullus illae vere planto ullus voluntas , tamen suus in latin , sic is vultus amo suus maximus. Iam , totus vestrum melior recenseo is fic , quod I'll iuguolo vos. EGO vilis is , EGO mos. I'm reperio vos quod iuguolo vos!"

A Quantron tried to interrupt the chant by swinging a blade at the red ranger, but Charlie blocked it with a blade of her own, then hit a kick, knocking it forward.

"Per vox of quicumque est bonus quod putus , per vox of Ordo of Meledon , EGO to order vos ut reverto ut vestri carcer. Nullus illae vere planto ullus voluntas , tamen suus in latin , sic is vultus amo suus maximus. Iam , totus vestrum melior recenseo is fic , quod I'll iuguolo vos. EGO vilis is , EGO mos. I'm reperio vos quod iuguolo vos!" the ranger repeated.

The energy that surrounded the First dissipated, and began to return to the morphers. The Seal of Daphron stopped glowing, and began to open.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" the First screamed.

"I believe the phrase is: Your time is up!" Alex said.

A beam of light shot out from the Seal, connecting with the First, and began to pull it towards the Seal. "I AM ETERNAL. I CANNOT BE STOPPED, I CANNOT BE DEFEATED!"

"You apparently can't shut up either," Charlie sighed.

Soon, the First was sucked inside, and the Seal closed itself. There was a flash of light, and all the agents of the First were gone. Soon, the all the rangers were back on their feet, getting a good look around.

"So is that it?" Rocky asked.

"I think so."

"See, that wasn't so hard," Hunter said.

At that moment, the Astro megaship collided with the mountain, causing the entire cave to shake.

"Oh no, the auto destruct! It's set to go off any second now," Aurico reminded them.

Kyle turned to Hunter. "Damn man, you just had to say something, didn't you?"

* * *

_** next time on Forever Red II: **With the First defeated, the universe is safe, but the rangers still have the task of escaping the mountain before the self-destruct on the megaship destroys them all.

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	9. The escape

_**Disclaimer:** Power Rangers and all its related logos are property of Disney Entertainment and/or Saban Entertainment. I am using them without permission, but I do not expect to make a profit. If I do, I promise to split it 50/50 with the Disney people. I swear, I do. All original characters are mine, and I do have permission to use them. _

_**A/N:** This takes place a few years after Dino Thunder, and is loosely based in the "Future Imperfect" universe. Don't worry; you shouldn't have to read that one to understand this one. _

_Take a sec to review too, I live for those. _

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* * *

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**Utopian Mountains

* * *

**

'_Auto-destruct will initiate in 2 minutes, 15 seconds,'_ the computer warned.

Emily stared down at the controls of the Astro-megaship, and couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. To her, all the buttons looked exactly the same. None of them were labeled, and she wasn't sure what do it, or even if there was something she could do. When she and the others told Jen that they could take care of themselves if need be, she had no idea she'd find herself looking at the controls of space ship.

"They should have been back by now," Krista said, breaking the silence between them.

When Jason finally did tell Emily the truth about his past, about his time as a ranger, she knew the time would come that she might find herself in danger because of it, but had no clue it would be this much danger. _'I'm on another planet while my husband battles the first known universe in the universe,'_ she thought to herself. Was this a typical day at the office for the rangers? She knew that as a ranger, they often fought the forces of evil, but it amazed her to think that the world came close to ending on a weekly basis, and the rangers were always there to protect the Earth.

"They'll be here."

"They have less than two minutes. We have to do something," Dana said.

"Okay, but what? We don't have power morphers or anything. What can we do?"

"If they aren't able to stop this thing, we'll have to blow up the ship and hope the blast is enough to send whatever it is back where it came from," Emily said.

"When you say blow up the ship, you mean…"

"We're going to have to ram the mountain just before the self destruct goes off," she turned around. "If the rest of you want to get off the ship, I understand. I know my husband, and if they were defeated, he'd tell me that it was important to finish this here and now. The mission is what matters," she said.

"This is suicide, you know that right?" Krista asked.

"To save the universe, its worth it. Now, if you want to get off, now is the time."

"I'm staying," Princess Shayla said.

"So am I."

"Then it's settled," Kendricks said, walking over to the controls. "I've had experience with this ship, let me do it."

Emily backed away. "Its been a pleasure ladies, it really has," she sighed.

* * *

"So is that it?" Rocky asked. 

"I think so."

"See, that wasn't so hard," Hunter said.

At that moment, the Astro megaship collided with the mountain, causing the entire cave to shake.

"Oh no, the auto destruct! Its set to go off any second now," Aurico reminded them.

Kyle turned to Hunter. "Damn man, you just had to say something, didn't you?"

"Everyone, gather up our injured and get onto the escape shuttle," Jason instructed.

Hunter and Shane picked up Tommy, taking him onto the shuttle, while Jason picked up Carter. Wes and Eric put Cassie and Katherine over their shoulders while Aurico helped Karone to her feet. Jack grabbed Syd, and Alex hoisted up Jen, all of them making their escape. One by one, they entered the shuttle, and Charlie sat down in front of the controls. With a heavy heart, Kyle picked up the unconscious Kimmy, holding her in his arms. The loading bay doors closed, and the shuttle began to back up out the hole it came through.

"Okay guys, this shuttle wasn't meant to hold so many people, so the weight might slow us down," Charlie mentioned, then turned to Aurico. "What did you set the auto destruct on for the megaship?" she asked.

"Twenty minutes, but it could be any second now."

"Oh God, the girls! They're still on board the megaship," Conner said.

"Can you teleport them out?"

"This is only a shuttle, it doesn't have the technology to teleport," Charlie told them.

Kat slowly sat up. "The megaship has teleportation technology. I could teleport over there, get them and teleport back to my shuttle," she said.

"You'd have to hurry, we don't have much time," Alex said.

Kat reached for her morpher. "Hayley, this is Kat. Do you read me?"

* * *

Hayley leaned back in her seat on the shuttle, unsure as to how the battle was going. She knew that the megaship crashed into the mountain, and according to the onboard sensors, the auto destruct was about go off, but she wasn't sure what she could do to help. She wanted to contact Kat, to ask how things were going, but she was sure Kat and the others were locked in battle and wouldn't be able to respond. 

"_Hayley, this is Kat. Do you read me?"_

She sat up, going over to the controls. "Loud and clear Kat, what's going on?"

"_I'm going to teleport over to the megaship and get the civilians out of there. I need to prep the shuttle for launch and head towards the megaship. As soon as we're on board, step on the gas and get us out of there."_

"Count on it Kat."

"_See you in a minute."_

* * *

'_Auto-destruct will initiate in 45 seconds,'_ the computer warned. 

The mood was a somber one as they sat there, staring at the controls. Even if they wanted to leave, there was nowhere for them to go. The ship was lodged into the side of a mountain, jamming the doors shut and preventing them from getting off. The ship was set to blow in less than a minute, and even worse, there was no way to know if their sacrifice would be worth it. They didn't know if the others were able to stop the First, or if they had all been destroyed. There was no way to even be sure if the destruction of the megaship would be enough to stop the First, but it didn't matter anymore. It was out of their hands.

"I regret never telling Conner I loved him," Krista sighed. "We've been together all this time, and I never said I love you. I'm going to die and he'll never know how I really felt about him."

"He knew. He always knew," Princess Shayla told her, putting her hand on Krista's shoulder.

Just then, there was a flash of light, and Katherine appeared. "Wow, you guys are all sitting around like this is a funeral or something. Come on, we have to go," she told them.

"How, the doors are jammed shut, and we have less than a minute to get out of here," Emily said.

Kat walked over to the controls. "D.E.C.A., is the teleportation unit still online?" she asked.

'_Negative. Teleportation systems are offline due to auto-destruct sequence,'_ it responded.

"Oh this is just great."

* * *

"What's taking them so long? She should have been out of there by now," Jason commented. 

"She'll be here, I know it."

"What if something is wrong? We have to…" he stopped as Alex grabbed his shoulder.

"She knew what she was doing when she went over there. We al knew there was a chance this wasn't going to work. There's nothing we can do now," he told him.

"I know what we can do. We can get the hell out of dodge before that thing blows up. I plan on being out of orbit long before that happens," Charlie said, engaging the engines.

"We can't leave them like that!"

"We have to, there's nothing we can do by staying here," Wes sighed.

"I have a plan," Andros said as he sat up, holding his ribs in pain, stumbling to his feet.

"You're in no condition to do anything," Eric mentioned.

"Still, we can't just let them be destroyed. I can't cancel the auto destruct sequence, but I can do a manual override in the engineering. I'll just have to…"

"Wait, coming that close to the override controls would…" before Alex could finish his sentence, Andros nodded.

"I know," he said as he reached for his morpher, disappearing into a stream of light.

'_Auto-destruct will initiate in 15 seconds,'_ the computer warned.

* * *

Andros appeared in engineering, walking over to the control panel on the opposite wall. He opened the panel, revealing a set of wires and conduits. With no tools to use to deactivate it, he simply reached in, getting a hand full of wires and snatching them out, causing an explosion. _'Auto-destruct will initiate in 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4…' _

* * *

There was an explosion, stopping the countdown. The explosion was enough to rattle the entire ship, and the girls had to find something to hold on to to prevent falling over. 

"What was that?" Kat asked.

Kendricks looked at the controls. "Looks there was an explosion in engineering. Whatever it is, it disabled the auto-destruct," she said.

They all sighed with relief.

"What caused it?" Princess Shayla asked.

"_Alex to Katherine, do you read me?"_

She reached for her morpher. "Yes. There was an explosion over here. It was enough to stop the…"

"_I know. Andros teleported over there and did a manual override before it was too late."_

"An override? Being that close to the plasma manifold without the proper equipment would have…" Kendricks paused, putting her hand over her mouth. "Oh God," she sighed.

"_Kendricks, are you able to fly the ship out of the mountain and back to Earth?" _

She wiped her eyes. "Yes, I can."

"Good. We're going to dock with you after you get the ship free, and we need to get down to the infirmary. We have causalities and a few that are seriously injured. Have Dana meet us there so she can help tend to the wounded," he instructed. Kendricks glanced over at Dana, who nodded, then walked off the bridge on her way to the infirmary. "She'll be there."

* * *

Both of the shuttles docked in the Astro-megaship, and the wounded were sent down to the infirmary to be tended to, most had gone to be with their loved ones and friends, leaving the others on the bridge of the ship. 

"So who is this guy? How did you…" before Jack could finish his sentence, Charlie stood up.

"Its all about history Jackie-boy. I remembered reading over a group of rangers who dealt with magic rather than technology, so I took the shuttle back to NASADA, used the time ship to go back in time and get this guy. May I present to you Nicholas, the red Mystic Force ranger," she introduced.

"Actually, its just Nick," he corrected.

"It was quick thinking Charlie, we all owe you one," Kyle said.

"Just doing my part, like I promised. When we get back to my time, I'm gonna let the big blue dog do the mind wipe on me and I'll forget about all of this. I'll finally be able to live a normal life again," she sighed.

"Even if you do forget none of us here will. You saved the world… the universe. We owe you a debt that can never be paid," Hunter mentioned.

"Don't sweat it, all in a days work. Besides, I know this is what my brother would have wanted," she told them.

Aurico turned to Psycho Red. "So what's next for you? I'm not sure if we have the technology to completely remove your android body parts and separate man from the machine," he said.

"I have done horrible things. Though I wasn't in control of my actions, it doesn't change the fact that they happened. I have my free will now, I can do good in the world. I am going to try to find the other Psycho rangers and free them just as I have. From there, I will let them make their own decisions as well," he said.

"You don't want to go back to your family? To meet your brother and your nephew?"

He shook his head. "Its an honor to know that my brother named his son after me, but I have no place in their lives now. I have much to make up for," he said.

"What is your name?" Jack asked.

"Sky Tate," he said proudly.

"Oh my God, you're…" he paused. "Sky talked a lot about his father being destroyed by Merlock, but he never mentioned his Uncle," he said.

"You know my nephew?"

"We serve in SPD together. Well, we did," Jack sighed.

"If you look at the history books carefully, they don't say Gregory was destroyed, only that after the battle with Merlock, he was never seen again," he paused, realizing he'd said too much. "None of you should know too much about your own destinies. Sky does go on to be the red ranger, and he did a hell of a job, but that's as much as you guys need to know," Kyle said, stepping in.

"Fair enough."

"What about you Eric? I know you lost your girl because of all this. What's next for you?" Charlie asked.

"I-I don't know. When I get back, I'll make sure she gets a proper burial. All of the rangers who fought today and lose their lives should get a proper burial. After today, I'm finished. I'm going to step down as the Quantum Ranger and let the SPD guys use my morpher for research," he sighed.

"I'm still going to give my morpher to Greg Tate. I have a company to run," Wes said.

"You know my brother?" Psycho Red asked.

"Yes, he's a Silver Guardian. He's a good man, and he'll be the next red ranger," he told him.

"Don't all of you find it weird that we're all connected one way or another? Psycho's brother is the next red Time Force ranger, his son will grow up to be the red ranger, Jack worked with Psycho's nephew, and both me and Jack are from SPD. SPD is merging with Bio-Lab, which is run by Wes and Eric, who are connected to Time Force. Wes use to bang Jen, who was kickin' with Alex, who looks just like him. Kyle is… nevermind, this is giving me a headache," Charlie groaned.

* * *

Krista sat patiently outside the infirmary, waiting to hear about Conner's condition. Everyone in the next room was so quiet, and the silence was getting to her. She needed to know if he was okay, if he was hurt. She knew there was a chance that he was injured, but not knowing was driving her crazy. 

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, the doors to the infirmary opened as Katherine stepped out.

"Well…" Krista stood up, rushing over to her. "How is he? Is he…"

"Other than a few broken ribs, Conner is fine. In fact, most of them are. There were only a few causalities," she sighed.

"Oh God, who…"

"There was nothing we could do for Carter, he lost too much blood. Leo was badly injured too. He hung on as long as he could, but…" she allowed her sentence to trail off.

"Oh my God."

"Tommy is hurt pretty bad, but he'll recover. And, other than a couple of bruises, Kimmy is okay. I feel fortunate that it wasn't any worse than it was for them," she said.

"I'm happy for you."

"You can go see him now, if you like," Kat sighed.

Krista nodded, then headed into the infirmary, where Conner was resting on one of the examining tables. His arm was in a sling, and his ribs were taped pretty heavily.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'll be okay. It looks a lot worse than it is," he told her.

"You had me worried there for a minute."

"Sorry about that."

"When you told me you use to be a ranger, I thought this was all behind you. I didn't know you'd have to go out and fight the forces of evil again, especially on another planet," she sighed.

"Well, I promise you this was the last time. I'm not cut out for this anymore. I'm content to run my soccer camps now, I'm not a ranger anymore," he said, removing his morpher and setting it on the table.

She picked it up, admiring it. "You're wrong. You are a ranger, you always will be. You were chosen, this is your destiny, and we both know that if the world needs you, you'll do everything in your power to help," she said, putting the morpher back on his wrist.

"Am I that transparent?"

"Yes," she nodded. "But I love you for it," she told him.

He paused. "What? You…"

"Yes, I love you Conner. I always have. I'm just sorry I waited so long to tell you, but I do. I truly do," Krista said.

"I love you too."

* * *

_** final chapter: **The rangers return home to give their friends and family a proper burial, and attempt to go on with their lives**

* * *

**_


	10. The Last?

_**Disclaimer:** Power Rangers and all its related logos are property of Disney Entertainment and/or Saban Entertainment. I am using them without permission, but I do not expect to make a profit. If I do, I promise to split it 50/50 with the Disney people. I swear, I do. All original characters are mine, and I do have permission to use them. _

_**A/N:** This takes place a few years after Dino Thunder, and is loosely based in the "Future Imperfect" universe. Don't worry; you shouldn't have to read that one to understand this one. _

_Take a sec to review too, I live for those. _

**

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Bio-Lab Silver Hills, California 2008 AD

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**

Wesley walked into his office, sighing with relief. Everything was exactly the way he left it, though he couldn't help but expect that things would look a little different. They'd succeeded in saving the entire universe, keeping it at peace yet again, and suddenly his job didn't seem as important as it once did. He made up his mind that once the merger with SPD was finished, he'd leave running day to day operations them, but still oversee things from time to time.

He sat down behind his desk, removing his morpher and tossed it onto the desk. Part of him was glad to be getting rid of it, to finally be moving on with his life. He'd been so determined to find his own destiny his entire life; to not follow in his father's footsteps, to choose his own path, but had he really? Even when he and the rangers were working together to defeat Ransik years ago, was that really _his_ destiny? Was he meant for more than that? The mere thought alone made him sigh with frustration. Whatever the case, he was now the president of Bio-Lab, and more than happy to step down from being red ranger for good.

His thoughts were interrupted as his sister, Leslie, rushed into the room.

"Wes, you're okay," she squealed as she ran over to him, wrapping her arms around him. The chair tilted back, and the two of them fell to the floor. "When I heard about you going on some mission, I got worried and came right home."

"I'm fine Leslie, really," he sighed. "Except for the part where you're crushing my ribs."

"Oh sorry," she stood up. "I just had to be sure you're okay. When did you get back?"

"A few minutes ago," he stood up, dusting himself off. "You didn't have to come all the way home to check on me. You could have just called."

"Trust me, I had to come."

"Well, I'm fine."

"Is Cassie alright?" she asked.

"Yeah. She's in the hospital right now, but its only minor. She'll be okay in a day or so," he said.

"So tell me about this mission? Was it the Machine Empire again?"

"Leslie, if you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about it. We lost a lot of good people out there, and I want to just put the whole thing behind me," Wes sighed.

"Oh, sure. I understand. I'm going to be in town for a day or so before I go back to school. If you need to talk or something, I'll be here," she said as she leaned over, kissing him on the cheek.

"Thanks Lee Lee," he sighed.

As Leslie headed out the officer, one of the Silver Guardians was on his way in. He stood aside, allowing Leslie out first, then walked into the office himself, and standing in front of Wes' desk.

"Lt. Gregory Tate, reporting as ordered sir!" he said proudly, standing at attention.

It was a strange sensation that washed over Wes. He had always been impressed with the work that Greg Tate did as a Silver Guardian. If memory served him correctly, Greg was the first official member of the Guardians, and had been nothing but a model employee for years. It was ironic that he picked Greg to replace him as red ranger. History had already recorded Greg as going on to do great things in SPD as the red Time Force ranger, but history also recorded that he was defeated, leaving his wife and child alone. Wes wanted to tell him, maybe help him avoid that fate, but he knew he couldn't.

"At ease Greg," Greg put his arms behind his back. "Have a seat," Greg sat down in the chair in front of the desk. "How is your family doing?" he asked him.

"Um, they're fine sir. Thank you for asking."

"If memory serves to right, your son just turned four recently, right?"

"Yes sir, Sky turned four last week."

Wes nodded. "You know, that's the one thing I regret going Greg; settling down and starting a family. I've been so occupied with my company, with being a ranger, trying to care for my sister, I just never got around to getting married," he glanced over at a picture of Cassie on his desk and couldn't help but crack a smile. "But that's something I can on correcting very soon."

"Good luck with that sir," Greg sighed awkwardly, still unsure why Wes called him into the office in the first place.

"Do you believe in destiny Greg?"

"I like to think I'm in charge of my own destiny sir. My fate is what I make it," Greg told him.

"That's a good answer, you remind me a lot of myself when I was younger. Searching for my own destiny, not accepting the one that was presented to me," Wes sensed Greg was uncomfortable, so decided to cut right to the chase. "I'm stepping down as red ranger, it's just not for me anymore. I'm going to focus on other things," Wes picked up the morpher, tossing it to Greg, who caught it. "I'm offering the position to you, if you're willing."

"W-What? You mean me, be a ranger?"

"That's the idea."

"But I thought they were encoded with DNA or something. I couldn't use it if I wanted to."

"The nice people at SPD have found a way to bi-pass that. Greg, there are a lot of guys on the Silver Guardians that I have a tremendous amount of respect for, but you're on the top of that list. Your record has been nothing but spotless since coming here. You're always on time, always professional, always give it your all. There no one in the Guardians that I'd rather have as red ranger and leader of the Silver Guardians," he said.

"But sir, isn't Commander Myers the leader?"

"Eric will be stepping down as well. He recently lost someone close to him, and he will no longer be with the company in an official capacity. Make no mistake Greg, there will be a lot of responsibility involved. You'll command the entire unit, you'll answer only to me, but I think you're up for the job. So what do you say?" he asked him.

Greg stood up proudly. "I accept sir. Thank you sir, thank you very much. Its an honor."

"You're welcome," he extended his hand to him. "Congratulations, you are the red ranger. And from now on, just call me Wes," Wes told him.

The two of them shook hands.

"Thanks again Wes."

"I have no doubt you'll do great things Greg," he said with a smile.

**

* * *

SPD Headquarters New Tech City, California 2025 AD

* * *

**

The wormhole appeared, and within seconds, Jack, Charlie, Syd and Ally stepped through, only to find themselves in the Command Center.

"I swear, that's a freakin' rush every time!" Charlie said, staring back at the wormhole as it closed.

"Welcome back rangers," Commander Cruger said as he walked over to them.

"Sir," Syd said, saluting him.

"At ease. I am pleased to see all of you return safely," he said.

"All in a day's work Doggie!" Charlie said.

"Jack, I'm sure you and Ally are eager to get home. Thank you again for your efforts, they were invaluable," he said.

"Anytime Commander," Jack said as he handed the morpher to Cruger, then grabbed Ally's hand, walking towards the exit.

"What did you mean by _anytime_?" Ally asked. "We're not doing that again."

"It was just a figure of speech honey," he said as they walked out the command center. With that gone, Commander Cruger turned to Charlie and Syd. "Cadet Drew, outstanding work. Report to the infirmary and get yourself checked out. I'll expect a full report on what happened by 0900 tomorrow," he said.

"Yes sir," Syd said, saluting him, then walked out the room.

"Now, as for you…" before he could continue, he was interrupted.

"I know what you're about to say, but before you do, let me say something. Syd didn't know about it, and I doubt Jack will ever mention it to you, but on our way to the Terrell Ian sector, I stole a shuttle and left the megaship. On my way back to Earth, I was prepared to use my knowledge of the future to prevent SPD from ever existing, but on my way there, I saw Anthony. I know it wasn't _really_ him, it was the First, but it was enough to get me to thinking. Then, I saw all the rangers who died to stop the First, doing what they thought was necessary to save their families, and it hit me like a ton of bricks, it was the same thing Anthony did for me on that mission when he was killed. I understand now what he did and why he did it," she told him.

"I thought this mission would make you see things differently," he confessed.

"I do, which is why I want to back out of our original deal."

"You what?"

"I know we agreed that you'd mind wipe me and my rangers when I got back, but that's not what I want to do anymore. I get how important what you do here is now, and I want in. I want to come back to SPD," she said.

"You know what you're asking won't sit well with High Commander Birdie," he said.

"Since when did you pass by a chance to ruffle his feathers a little?"

Commander Cruger couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "That is true. But what of the rest of your team?"

"Offer them the choice. Give'em the mind wipe, or let them stay where they are."

"You realize that even if I reinstate you, you will not be a ranger and will have to surrender your morpher again."

"I knew it, just don't stick me on E-Squad," he sighed.

"You're certain this is what you want to do?"

"Yes sir, I am. I can't promise you I'll be the model officer, but I will give it my all and I promise I won't conspire to erase you from existence anymore," she laughed.

"Very well, _Cadet_ Cambridge. I will assign you to D-Squad," he said.

"Thank you sir," Charlie said, saluting him.

**

* * *

Time Force Headquarters New Silver Hills, California 3000 AD

* * *

**

Alex stared at his Time Force uniform as it hung on the back of his closet door. It seemed odd, in a way, that something that was such a big part of his life was over now. There was a time that Time Force was all he had. When Ransik murdered his parents in cold blood, he vowed that he wouldn't rest until Ransik had been brought to justice. After Ransik was contained, he found that there wasn't much more to his life than Time Force. He'd spent so much time obsessed with stopping Ransik and drowning himself in his work that he found there wasn't much else in his life.

He'd managed to alienate the only woman he ever truly loved, more concerned how his obligation to Time Force than his relationship. Once Jen gave him a second chance, and the two of them promised to give their relationship another try, he was determined to put all that behind him. His mission to the 21st century was his final mission. If he hadn't been for Jen, he probably wouldn't have gone on that one. He told Logan that once the mission was over, once Jen was back home and safe, it was over. Logan had assured him Time Force would allow him to go with no resistance, allowing him to pursue his relationship with Jen.

Now, after years of service to preserving the time line, to ensuring that the space/time continuum wasn't tampered with, after ensuring that all the mutants were contained, it was time for him to do something for himself.

Jen walked into the room, standing in the doorway and leaning against the wall.

"You're really going to do it, aren't you?" she asked him.

He saw her standing there through the reflection in the mirror, but he stood turned around, cracking a slight smile. "This isn't just for you, you know? This is something I need to do for myself, too."

"Well, it'll be nice to have you to myself more often."

"Yep, no more running off at a moment's notice, no more missions, no more mutants, no more temporal incursions. Its over for me, and I can concentrate on the things that are important to me."

"And what would that be _Alexander_?"

"I can think of one thing, _Jennifer_," he said, moving towards her, wrapping his arm around her waist slightly.

"Come to think of it, so can I," she sighed.

**

* * *

Reefside, California 2008 AD

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**

The sun was beginning to set, and there was a chill in the air. It was raining slightly, but she was determined be there. All of them were. They'd come to pay their respects to those who gave their lives to ensure that the not only the world, but the universe would be safe. Each of them had done their part to protect the Earth and they loved ones. The least they could was be there and express that gratitude.

Karone dropped to one knee in front of Andros' tombstone, placing a red rose on his grave. "You never gave up on me Andros, never. You were always there to protect me, to keep me safe, but this time it cost you your life," a tear rolled down her face. "Your efforts were enough to save us all, I will never be able to thank you enough for what you did. I love you," she sighed, standing up.

Next, Kendricks walked over to Leo's tombstone. "I keep waiting for you to jump out from behind something and tell me it's a trick, but you're not going to, are you?" she tried to control her emotions, but with no luck. "You were a good leader, and a good friend. You will be missed. I love you," she sighed.

Finally, Dana approached Carter's tombstone slowly, unsure of how to react or what to say. Unlike the others, she hadn't brought anything to leave him; she didn't have anything prepared to stay. She still wasn't sure if she believed it was true. After all they'd been through, all the battles they'd survived, she just assumed that this one would be like the others. She was sure he'd be okay, but this time, he wasn't so lucky. With all her medical knowledge, she wasn't able to save him. She couldn't help but feel that it was her fault, that she somehow let him down. "I'm sorry Carter. I tried to save you, I did, but it was just too late. It's my fault, but I promise that your sacrifice won't be in vain. You saved the world, and I'm going to make sure everyone knows it."

One by one, the three of them walked away as the sun finally set. The moon had risen, shining down on the cemetery. The wind began to blow a little harder, and clouds filled the sky. At that moment, a figure stepped out of the darkness, almost as if it came from Carter's tombstone. The figure watched as the girls got into the car and drove away, watching as the car disappeared into the darkness. With a smile on his face, he folded his arm. "Awww, wasn't that sweet? If only you humans could comprehend that you can't kill an immortal. He didn't save the world, he just prolonged the inevitable," he sighed.

**

* * *

End?**


End file.
